What is a cancer hub? – Cancer treatment across England during the coronavirus
Cancer hubs are being introduced across England as a way to ensure patients are receiving the life saving treatment they need during coronavirus. So, how does coronavirus affect cancer treatment, what is a cancer hub and how does this affect you?
What is a cancer hub?
To help increase access to diagnostics and treatment and prevent coronavirus spreading, cancer services across England are now beginning to be provided through cancer hubs.
Cancer hubs are designed to gather all cancer services in one place, away from coronavirus wards. This may mean diagnosing and treating patients on wards or in hospitals that are coronavirus free. It also means using private hospitals or other spaces to provide care where NHS patients are not normally treated.
The first focus of cancer hubs will be surgery for patients whose care is urgent, and the aim is to match patients who require surgery with clinical teams and the resources required to treat them. As the coronavirus outbreak reduces across the country, diagnostic services such as CT scans may also be carried out using cancer hubs.
How will this affect me?
These changes to the way that cancers are managed may affect how your care is delivered. Your treatment may not take place in your local NHS hospital, it may be moved to another NHS or private hospital within your area. Despite this, your medical team will remain the same and they will be focused on ensuring that you can still receive the same high-quality treatment as near to you as possible.
If any changes to your surgery or any other treatment are planned, your hospital should get in contact with you to explain what happens next and where you will be expected to attend. If you have any concerns about this, you can contact your medical team and ask any questions.
No one can be sure about how long the coronavirus outbreak will continue for or how it will affect different areas ability to deliver cancer services. At PCA, we will continue to monitor the situation closely and provide updates as we learn more about cancer hubs and the effect of coronavirus on cancer in general.
How does coronavirus affect cancer treatment?
The coronavirus pandemic is affecting all areas of the NHS and as the outbreak continues, you may be worried about the impact on cancer diagnosis and treatment. Here’s what we know so far about how cancer treatment is being affected and questions for your doctor.
