Over 100 cancer procedures cancelled by Belfast Trust due to Covid

The Belfast Trust this evening issued a statement saying that this was due to the rising numbers of Covid-19 patients.

The news comes after doctors such as outspoken Londonderry GP Anne McCloskey warned of the danger which prioritising Covid treatment posed when it comes to its knock-on effects for the general patient population (see links below).

The statement in full reads as follows: “Regrettably, the Belfast Trust cancelled 106 cancer related procedures in October.

“Covid-19 admissions continuing to rise has put increasing pressures on hospitals, which led to the Trust taking the extremely difficult decision to cancel surgeries in order to expand our Covid ICU and support teams caring for Covid-19 patients.

“We do not underestimate the anxiety and distress this causes patients and families affected and we sincerely apologise for this.

“We fully understand how important it is for many cancer patients to have surgery in a timely way and we are doing everything we can to ensure any cancelled procedures are rescheduled as soon as possible.”

It said the figure of 106 includes both surgeries and “scopes” (procedures where doctors insert tubes into the body to seek out cancerous cells).

The 106 figure is a running tally of all cancellations in October to date.

And although the trust has used the word “cancellations”, they are really postponements – the trust added: “The procedures will take place when it is safe and feasible to do so.”

Figures from the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) covering the second quarter of 2020 (April, May and June) show that cancers accounted for the most deaths in the Province during that period.

Over those three months, there were 732 deaths where the cause is listed as Covid-19.

It was the third-highest cause of death, behind neoplasms (which are essentially cancers, at 1,206 deaths) and circulatory diseases (945 deaths).

In terms of the much-feared knock-on effects upon other types of mortality, the NISRA figures showed that during April, May, and June, drug-related deaths were higher than usual – 65 for those three months, compared with 45 in Q2 2019 and 49 in Q2 2018).

Alcohol-related deaths and suicides were not out-of-the-ordinary for quarter two of this year.

In Q2 2018 there were 79 suicides. In Q2 2019 there were 48.

And in Q2 this year there were 65.

In Q2 2018 there were 74 alcohol-related deaths. In Q2 2019 there were 93.

And in Q2 this year there were 78.

READ SOME OF DR MCCLOSKEY’S CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE COVID DEBATE IN THE NEWS LETTER:


CLICK HERE: Opinion: A tsunami of pain is headed NI’s way thanks to Covid lockdown

AND FROM EARLIER IN THE OUTBREAK :Coronavirus: ‘Vast bulk of fatal victims are elderly and/or sick – and we must consider harm we’re inflicting on next generation’ says doctor

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