- Published
- 03 May 2021
- Journal article
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on skin cancer incidence and treatment in England, 2020
- Authors
- Source
- British Journal of Dermatology
Full text
Abstract
The first UK national COVID-19 lockdown began 23rd March 2020. Immediately, almost all outpatient healthcare service requests temporarily focused exclusively on urgent referrals and two-week-wait urgent cancer referrals with restrictions due to staff sickness, redeployment and changing work environments. Additionally, patient anxiety regarding attending appointments and perceived overburdening of healthcare resources resulted in fewer presentations.2 Technological advancements have arisen from challenging circumstances. The National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service (NCRAS), England, has developed a Rapid Cancer Registration Dataset (RCRD). Utilising automated datafeeds, lag-time from diagnosis to registration is reduced from 18 to 4 months, however, data has not been quality assured to the same standards and completeness.4 We identify how the pandemic has affected skin cancer.
Cite as
Venables, Z., Ahmed, S., Bleiker, T., Broggio, J., Kwiatkowska, M., Levell, N., Millington, G., Paley, L., Payne, E., Proby, C., Vernon, S. & McPhail, S. 2021, 'The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on skin cancer incidence and treatment in England, 2020', British Journal of Dermatology. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjd.20409