About 36,000 fewer people than usual began cancer treatment during the pandemic, with the impact on deaths probably not known until next yearPatients’ reluctance to bother GPs is one of the reasons national cancer survival rates are between ten and 15 years behind comparable countries, MPs were told yesterday. Experts behind an international project tracking countries’ performance tackling the disease said that earlier diagnosis and better treatment was needed for the UK to improve its ranking. SponsoredProfessor Sir Mike Richards, former national cancer director, said that one of the things the project had uncovered was that “people in this country were much more worried about worrying their doctor or wasting the doctor’s time than they were in other countries”. He said: “I remember we presented this to the other countries and they just raised their eyebrows at that and said, ‘Isn’t that what it’s all about?’”GPs

Source: The Times July 13, 2021 23:00 UTC