EMERGENCY cancer patient admissions in north east Essex hit a nine-year high last summer, figures reveal.

Macmillan Cancer Support said the rising number of cancer patients arriving at hospital via urgent routes revealed the "devastating" effect of the coronavirus pandemic on cancer care.

Data from Public Health England showed 107 people with newly identified tumours were admitted to hospital as an emergency in the North East Essex CCG area in the three months to September.

That was up from 87 between July and September 2019, and the highest number for the period since 2011, when there were also 107.

It was also an increase from 92 between April and June.

The figures count all invasive forms of cancer except non-melanoma skin cancer, and can include admissions with a suspicion of a tumour.

Including all referral types, there were 466 first inpatient admissions for cancer in the three months to September – down from 523 during the same period in 2019.

It means 23 per cent of admissions were listed as emergencies, compared to 17 per cent a year earlier.

Sara Bainbridge, head of policy at Macmillan, said the figures showed “the devastating impact Covid-19 has had on cancer care”.

“So far the Government has failed to show how it will deliver the staffing and resources needed to clear the backlog of people waiting for a diagnosis and treatment,” she added.

Cancer Research UK said the rising proportion of cancer patients who were admitted as emergency cases during the early months of the pandemic was mainly driven by a drop in the number of overall admissions.

It said this was because people were more reluctant to visit their GP during the first wave of the virus, which meant that non-emergency admissions decreased.

Neill Moloney, managing director of East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Colchester and Ipswich hospitals, said: “Urgent cancer treatment has remained a priority throughout the coronavirus pandemic and we have encouraged anyone who is worried about symptoms which could be due to cancer to come forward for a check as early as possible.

“The earlier cancer is caught, the easier it is to treat and our message is clear – people should continue to come forward for routine screening or get checked if they have a worrying symptom and they can attend treatment appointments safely.”