Summary
The estimated proportion of all malignant cancers where patients first presented as an emergency. This latest publication has been updated to include quarterly data for April to June 2021, July to September 2021 and October to December 2021 (quarters 1, 2, and 3 of financial year 2021 to 2022) and an update of the one-year rolling proportion.
Key Facts
The number of cancer presentations has returned to pre-COVID levels
The number of cancer patients first seen in hospital in England was 70,392 during April to June 2021, 70,793 during July to September 2021 and 69,668 during October to December 2021. For the last two quarters of data, the number of cancer patients has returned to pre-COVID levels.
The number of emergency presentations has returned to pre-COVID levels
The number of cancer patients seen in hospital as emergency presentations was 14,734 during April to June 2021, 13,911 during July to September 2021 and 13,084 during October to December 2021. For the last two quarters of data, the number of cancer patients presenting as an emergency has returned to pre-COVID levels.
The proportion of new cancer patients presenting as an emergency presentation has decreased
The proportion of new cancer patients presenting as an emergency presentation has decreased from 21.0% during January to March 2021 to 20.9% during April to June 2021, 19.7% during July to September 2021 and 18.8% during October to December 2021.
The proportion of new cancer patients presenting as an emergency presentation has almost returned to pre-COVID levels
The proportion of new cancer patients presenting as an emergency was not significantly different July to September in 2021 (19.7%) compared to July to September in 2019 (pre-COVID) (19.3%). Although the proportion for October to December in 2021 (18.8%) compared to October to December in 2019 (pre-COVID) (18.4%) was significantly higher, the absolute difference in proportions was small (0.4%), suggesting that the proportions are almost at pre-COVID levels.
The 1-year rolling proportion of new cancer patients presenting as an emergency has returned to pre-COVID levels for most Clinical Commissioning Groups
For most CCGs, the 1-year rolling proportions have returned to pre-COVID levels. Comparing January to December 2021 to January to December 2019, the 1-year rolling proportion had not changed significantly for 81 CCGs, was significantly higher for 21 CCGs and was significantly lower for 4 CCGs.
On 1 October 2021, responsibility for the National Disease Registration Service (NDRS) transferred from Public Health England (PHE) to NHS Digital. NHS Digital is the data controller for this data. The National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service (NCRAS) as part of the NDRS is still responsible for collecting data on patients with cancer in England and continues to produce the Emergency presentation of cancer publications.
Previous releases of these statistics can be found at the Emergency presentations of cancer collection link below.
Acknowledgements
This work uses data that has been provided by patients and collected by the NHS as part of their care and support. The data are collected, maintained and quality assured by the National Disease Registration Service, which is a part of NHS Digital.
Last edited: 6 July 2022 2:32 pm