New data suggests the NHS closed down more services during the first year of the Covid scamdemic, than nearly every other European country.
According to the Telegraph:
Cancer-related surgery in the UK dropped by more than a quarter (26 per cent) in 2020 compared to 2019, according to data compiled by the OECD and the European Commission.
It was the second-highest fall among the 30 countries included in the Health at a Glance 2022 report, ranking only behind Romania, which saw a 30 per cent drop.
In comparison, Denmark experienced barely any disruption to cancer surgery with a 0.6 per cent fall in 2020 compared to the previous year.
The UK saw the biggest drop in cancer-related hysterectomies, which fell by 36 per cent compared to an average drop of 19 per cent in the 21 EU countries included in the analysis.
It comes after vital cancer appointments and surgeries were postponed or cancelled at the start of the pandemic as the NHS moved onto an emergency footing.
Cancer charities have warned there are tens of thousands of “missing” cancer cases as a result.
According to Macmillan in England alone, between March and August 2020, around 30,000 fewer people started their first cancer treatment compared to 2019.
While NHS data show that 38,000 fewer patients received a cancer diagnosis in England during 2020.
The report authors said the impact of pandemic disruption to healthcare is “hard to quantify precisely because they have affected most of the population and because several of these effects will last for many years to come”.
“For example, disruptions in cancer screening and early detection programmes will result in increased number of cancer cases being diagnosed at a later stage, and with lower survival probabilities,” they said.
Data from the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) show since September there have been nearly 900 more deaths in people with cancer than would be expected at this time of year.
Across EU countries, 2 million fewer non-urgent procedures, such as cataract and hip and knee surgery, were performed in 2020 compared to 2019.
The authors conclude: “These ‘missing volumes’ of operations have increased waiting times for patients in need of surgery, increasing patient dissatisfaction.
“Many EU countries have provided additional funding to address these backlogs, but the main constraint to scaling up volumes of procedures has been shortages of health workers.
“Incentives were provided for staff to work longer hours, but these clearly had limits and ran the risk of leading to burnout and resignation.”
The OECD report reveals the UK more than halved the number of hip and knee surgeries during the first year of the pandemic, the highest rate for any country in the comparison.
The surgery declined by 56 per cent in 2020 compared to 2019, followed by Romania and Hungary where it fell by 33 per cent.
Germany had an 8 per cent drop compared to 2019, while hip and knee operations in Switzerland remained relatively stable with just a 1 per cent decline.
The UK was one of only four countries in the report which had “large disruption” to diagnostic scans and MRIs.
Compared to 2019 the number carried out fell by 15 per cent in the UK, 41 per cent in Greece, 17 per cent in Lithuania, 12 per cent in Italy and 11 per cent in Spain.
In Germany, the scans – which are vital for diagnosing conditions such as brain tumours – only declined by 0.3 per cent.
More than 460,000 patients are currently waiting longer than the six-week target for a key diagnostic test in England.
It’s murder, no matter how you slice it. The UK government and its scientific advisers are guilty of mass murder.
In the Spring and Summer of 2020, people stood on their doorsteps and applauded NHS workers.
For what?
I know of three people who were repeatedly denied access to cancer screening services. Two of them have passed away. It’s highly likely that they would be alive this Christmas, if the NHS hadn’t rebranded itself as the CHS.
It’s wicked, isn’t it?
