With help from its member charities, Cancer52 ran a second survey of people with rare and less common cancers from early December 2020 to mid-January 2021 looking at the continuing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The survey included questions about changes to people’s treatment, testing and isolating before appointments, and whether people had been able to access help from GPs and pharmacists. Over 500 people from across England responded to the survey. Some of the key findings were:
People diagnosed since the pandemic faced delays - either because they were concerned about contacting their GP or test and scans had been delayed;
One in ten people who had received treatment since the pandemic began had not had the type of treatment they were expecting to receive;
One in ten people had not been able to access their GP during the pandemic. 20% had been able to see their GP in person and 70% had been able to have a virtual or telephone appointment.
Below you can download a full report of the survey including our recommendations on the need to continue to encourage people with symptoms to seek help, the need for more data on how people have been impacted and the need for mental health support for people affected.
We are very grateful to all those people with rare and less common cancers who gave their time to respond to this survey.