Cancer screenings have declined during the COVID-19 pandemic, with delays to some invitations and follow up appointment or both being outright suspended. Changes in health seeking behavior have indeed been observed with urgent 2-week wait for cancer referrals decreasing by up to 80%⁵. Furthermore, a substantial increase in the number of avoidable cancer deaths in England are to expected as a result of diagnostic delays due to COVID-19 outbreak in the UK⁶. According to the latest figures, 38% of cancer cases are preventable⁷.
Dental care has felt the full impact and disruption of COVID-19. According to a report by Healthwatch, over 38,082 people during the July-Sept 2020 experienced difficulty accessing dental care via limited NHS appointments, postponed treatments, a lack of information and issues surrounding affordability⁸. Aside, from the general notion of visiting the dentist for treating acute dental pain, regular dental visits are vital for identifying early signs of mouth cancer and treating gum disease & infections before complications arise⁹.
Optician visits have declined too since the start of the pandemic considering that 250 people start losing their sight in the UK, in addition to 1 in 5 people will live with sight loss in their lifetime. With age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of blindness in the UK, hence it is even more worrying that this decline in optician visits affect patients with wet AMD, a treatable condition if caught early. The reported reduction in AMD presentation is as low as 25%. Overall, new referrals have dropped from 65% to 87% within the first month of the coronavirus outbreak compared to the same period in 2019¹⁰.
Sadly, during this pandemic, there has been a 50% drop in heart attack A&E attendees, meaning individuals are putting there lives at risk as they avoid or delay seeking medical attention¹¹. This equates to 5,000 every month or 1,100 people every week are not receiving emergency care for heart attacks¹². The main reason for this is due, once again to the pandemic, as 71% of cardiologist believe that patients fear contracting the virus if they expose themselves to a hospital setting¹³. This fear of exposure to a clinical setting is a cause for concern for those who would benefit from a cholesterol test in order to identify the “silent killer” that is hypercholesterolaemia associated with heart disease. Although high cholesterol does not mean you are more likely to catch COVID-19, the infection seems to follow a more severe clinical course in patients with CVD¹⁴.
This is by no means an exhaustive list, but these are health issues that have proven most problematic during this pandemic and bear the most consequences to both individuals and the health service in the future. Whichever service you need to access, PPE along with the full safety measures in accordance with the government’s COVID-19 guidelines have been implemented to keep you safe during your visit. To reiterate the leading treatment to the aforementioned health issues, and with all others, is preventative medicine. Prevention leads to a more favourable prognosis (outcome) and is vitally important in the long run with regards to the allocation of NHS resources and spending. It is the surest way to help keep the NHS and yourself in the best shape as possible in the years ahead.
So please, whether you are planning to have a staycation or making travel arrangements for a summer abroad, check-in with your GP, pharmacist, dentist or any other healthcare professional in order to receive the necessary treatment, support, or simply the all clear before starting your summer.
© All rights reserved, Nnadi’s Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals Limited, 2021.
¹ N Davis. Fear of contacting GPs during Covid outbreak ‘fuelling missed diagnoses’. The Guardian. 2020.
² P Duncan D Campbell. More people dying at home during Covid-19 pandemic –UK analysis. The Guardian. 2020.
³ Office for National Statistics (ONS). Covid-19 Round up: The coronavirus (COVID-19) was the third leading cause of death in March 2021 after being the leading cause of death for four consecutive months.
⁴ J Gammie. Covid cases drop as virus no longer leading cause of death in England. Evening Standard. 2020
⁵ C Maringe J Spicer M Morris et al. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer deaths due to delays in diagnosis in England, UK: a national, population-based, modeling study. Lancet Oncol. 2020; 21(8)1023-1034.
⁶ W Hamilton. Cancer diagnostic delay in the COVID-19 era: What happens next? Lancet Oncol. 2020; 21(8)1000-1002.
⁷ Cancer Research UK. Statistics on preventable cancers.
https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/cancer-statistics/risk/preventable-cancers
⁸ Healthwatch. Dentistry and the impact of COVID-19.
https://www.healthwatch.co.uk/news/2020-12-09/dentistry-and-impact-covid-19
⁹ You Smile Dental. 4 Reasons Why a Dental Checkup is important.
https://www.yousmiledental.com/blog/4-reasons-why-a-dental-checkup-is-important/
¹⁰ D Hutton. COVID-19: As patients avoid appointments, vision may be in jeopardy. Opthalmology Times.2020.
¹¹ J Bakker. Lives at risk due to 50% drop in heart attack A&E attendances. British Heart Foundation.
¹² ibid
¹³ ibid.
¹⁴ D Radenkovic.S Chawla M Pirro et al. Choleserol in Reation to COVID-19: Should We Care About it? J Clin Med 2020; 9(6): 1909.