Dedicated facilities with no trace of Covid-19 will allow treatment to resume for hundreds of sufferers

New Covid-19-free hubs for cancer patients could be a model for dealing with the large numbers of people with other conditions whose treatment stopped when lockdown began.

The Christie hospital in Manchester began operating as a cancer hub last week for patients in the north-west who had previously been treated at their local hospitals. Hundreds of cancer patients across the UK had their treatment interrupted because their condition makes them vulnerable to coronavirus.

Before going to the Christie, patients now have a phone call with a doctor to assess any potential Covid-19 symptoms, and on arrival are clinically assessed again. The entrance doors have temperature checks and no visitors are allowed, a spokesman said. Those with possible virus symptoms are taken to a separate area.

We’ve got trusts saying, ‘we want people to come to our A&Es' - the first time we've put that message out in 70 years. Saffron Cordery, NHS Providers

The Christie is believed to be the first hub to come into operation since NHS leaders wrote to hospital trusts in England on 30 March, urging them to set up Covid-19-free hubs after the success of the Royal Marsden in west London, working with UCLH and Guy’s and Thomas’ hospitals.

The NHS England medical director for London, Dr Vin Diwakar, said many patients had already benefited: “We’re sharing our experiences with cancer alliances across the country to help them in setting up their own cancer hubs.”

It’s a model that may provide a way forward for NHS leaders trying to deal with the growing number of old and new cases. At the end of February, 4.4 million people were waiting to start treatment, and all non-urgent elective operations have been suspended for at least 12 weeks, to create spare capacity to treat Covid-19 cases.

Since the lockdown began, substantial numbers of people with new injuries and illnesses have not been seeking treatment either. Less than 10,000 people per day are going to A&E, about half the usual number. and referrals from GPs for heart attacks, strokes and retinal detachments are down. One trust saw an 80% drop in cancer referrals from GPs, according to NHS Providers, which represents hospital trusts.

Saffron Cordery, deputy chief executive of NHS Providers, said trusts were “very concerned”.

“There are people who potentially are at risk of dying from stroke, a heart attack or another major incident, because they don’t want to turn up to A&E – they think it’s either too dangerous or there just isn’t the capacity to deal with them,” Cordery said.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest London’s Royal Marsden hub has been a success. Photograph: Anthony Eva/Alamy

“We’ve got trusts saying to us, ‘our A&E is way too quiet – we want to encourage people to come’. That’s the first time we’ve put that message out probably in 70 years.”

Siva Anandaciva, chief analyst at the King’s Fund, a health thinktank, said that although the current focus was on creating cancer centres, the NHS will need to plan for more general surgery for patients whose treatment cannot be delayed without consequences.

“Where you’ve got a specialist hospital like the Marsden – so the Christie, Clatterbridge and others like them, including in the private sector, you could potentially turn them into clean hubs,” Anandaciva said. But there are fewer than 20 specialist sites, he added, and a coronavirus outbreak in a “clean” hospital could make the system precarious.

The result of the reluctance to seek treatment is a higher death rate from other conditions. An extra 2,600 people a week are dying from non-Covid-19 causes, according to the Times.

Professor Martin Marshall, chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: “A number of people have recognised it from previous pandemics, including the flu pandemic in the UK 10 years ago and Ebola in west Africa. There always has been a rise in morbidity and mortality as a consequence of focusing on one condition.”

There are signs that people are beginning to return to GPs, most of whom are operating remotely, according to Mark Sanford-Wood, deputy chair of the BMA’s GP committee.

“We had a couple of weeks where it was quite quiet,” he said. “This week we’ve seen a rise in the number of contacts. Friday was much busier than the week before. As Chris Whitty said, the NHS is open for business.”