Stephen Fry slams ‘deadly’ wait times for cancer treatment on the NHS and urges ministers to get to grips with crisis after his own battle with prostate cancer

Stephen Fry today urged Britons to sign a petition calling on the government to get a handle on Britain’s cancer crisis.

He backed the #CatchUpWithCancer campaign, decried the “deadly” delays suffered by tens of thousands and praised King Charles for raising awareness of the disease in general.

Fry, 66, was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2018 but has since recovered.

Devastating figures show that more than 200,000 cancer-affected patients in Britain have suffered delays in their treatment since 2020.

Some are forced to wait months before they can begin chemotherapy and other essential therapies.

While the level of progress in cancer survival has been rapid in some forms of the disease, such as breast and prostate cancer, others, such as lung and pancreas, have improved only at a snail’s pace.

The petitionwhich has collected almost half a million signatures, was launched in 2020 by Kelly Smith’s parents, Craig and Mandy Russell, along with leading oncologist Professor Pat Price, founder of the charity Radiotherapy UK.

Mrs Smith’s life expectancy was drastically shortened after her chemotherapy for bowel cancer stopped as a direct result of Covid.

Doctors have long been concerned that cancer targets continue to be missed within the NHS, even when someone has been diagnosed with the disease.

The latest NHS data shows that less than two-thirds (65.9 percent) of patients started their first cancer treatment within two months of an urgent referral.

According to NHS guidelines, 85 percent of cancer patients should be treated within this time frame.

But this goal was never achieved.

In a video shared on social media by Radiotherapy UK, Fry said: ‘In 2018 I was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

“You never know how you’re going to react when you get that kind of news, and it’s a real shame that one in two of us will experience this.”

He added: ‘Since 2020, 225,000 people have waited too long for cancer treatment, and this wait can be fatal.

‘If, like me, you want to help, here’s what you can do. Join me in signing the #CatchUpWithCancer campaign petition.”

Radiotherapy UK’s charity director, Sarah Quinlan MBE, said: ‘Stephen and his team have been fantastic in supporting us in what we are trying to do, which is raising awareness of the many thousands of people who wait too long for cancer treatment, often with fatal consequences. implications.

“To have such a national treasure speaking out in support of the campaign and helping us move the petition to an important milestone is a huge boost.

‘We hope that an even larger audience will get behind the campaign, and that the government will pay attention to treating patients with cancer, and not just diagnosing it.’

It comes as King Charles began cancer treatment last month within days of being diagnosed.

Buckingham Palace did not specify the type of cancer.

But his treatment has drawn further attention to the long waiting times on the NHS.

“I think he has done the country a real service by being open and honest about it,” Fry added.

Fry has been close friends with the king for a number of years and the actor was personally invited to his coronation last year.

It comes as King Charles (pictured on February 4) began treatment for cancer within days of being diagnosed last month. Buckingham Palace did not specify the type of cancer or whether the king is receiving private healthcare or being treated by the NHS. But his treatment has drawn further attention to the long waiting times on the NHS

Last month, patients, charity activists and oncologists – led by #CatchUpWithCancer – marched on Parliament and called on ministers to commit to a dedicated cancer plan. Pictured (left to right) Antiques Roadshow expert Theo Burrell, TV gardener Danny Clarke, Dan Knowles, CEO of Brain Tumor Research, Sam Suriakumar, a patient undergoing treatment for a brain tumor, and mother of campaigner Laura Nuttall, Nicola Nuttall, posing with their autograph box before handing in a petition at 10 Downing Street, London

Experts believe delays in diagnosis and slow access to treatment are behind the deadly gap in cancer survival rates in Britain.

The NHS Long Term Plan, published in 2019, states that 75 percent of people with cancer should be diagnosed early, at stage one or two, by 2028.

But cancer care effectively came to a standstill for some patients when the pandemic first reached British shores, with appointments canceled and diagnostic scans postponed due to the government’s commitment to protecting the NHS.

Experts estimate that 40,000 cases of cancer went undiagnosed in the first year of the pandemic alone.

Other official NHS data for December on cancer waiting times also shows that only seven in ten (74.2 per cent) of patients urgently referred for suspected cancer were diagnosed with or diagnosed with cancer within 28 days ruled out. The goal is 75 percent.

Only nine in ten (91.1 percent) wait a month or less to start their first cancer treatment after deciding whether to proceed with surgery, chemotherapy or radiotherapy.

The target is 96 percent, but this has never been achieved.

Last month, patients, charity activists and oncologists – led by #CatchUpWithCancer – marched on Parliament and called on ministers to commit to a dedicated cancer plan.

The number of cancer patients waiting more than 60 days to start treatment would stretch from London to Cardiff if they lined up, they said.