Out and About Costa Blanca Magazine - June 2021 Issue -188

50 | OUT AND ABOUT COSTA BLANCA
DAWN BLYTHE
The Danger of
Delayed Diagnosis
Due to the tremendous strain
that the Codid-19 pandemic
has put on health services
around the world, there has been a delay
in specialist appointments and in most
countries there is now a real backlog of
overdue appointments.
Whist this is very understandable
in these extreme circumstances, it
nevertheless undoubtedly will put some
patients at risk.
Most concerning are delayed
appointments for:
▪ Radiology tests (TAC, MRI and CT
Scans)
▪ Oncology (cancer specialist)
▪ Cardiology
▪ Gynaecology
Obviously this is not an exclusive list!
It stands to reason that a delay in
clinical diagnosis will mean a delay in
subsequent treatment. In some cases
this means prolonged suffering and
unfortunately a delay in treatment may
mean a poorer prognosis and shorter life
expectancy.
Leading medical journals are all in
agreement that delayed diagnosis will
without doubt lead to an increase in
cancer deaths. The British Medical
Journal estimates that ‘Cancer mortality
could rise at least 20% as a consequence
of the Covid-19 pandemic’.