Breast Cancer Now has claimed that nearly 11,000 people in the UK could be living with breast cancer that has not yet been diagnosed due to disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The charity estimates that around 10,700 fewer people across the UK were diagnosed with breast cancer between March and December 2020 as a direct result of the impacts of the pandemic and warns that in the worst cases some women could die as a result of delayed diagnoses.

With the NHS breast screening programme being paused and appointments now running at a reduced rate due to safety measures, the charity also says that nearly 1.2 million fewer women had breast screening between March and December 2020. This is on top of a 90,000 drop in referrals to a specialist for patients with possible symptoms of breast cancer in England between March and December 2020.

Breast Cancer Now is calling on the government to invest long-term and take a strategic approach to addressing the rapidly growing crisis facing the cancer workforce now, to give everyone the best possible chance of early diagnosis.

Baroness Delyth Morgan, chief executive at Breast Cancer Now, said: “The tragic cost of almost 11,000 missing breast cancer diagnoses is that in the worst cases, women could die from the disease. And looking ahead, while we cannot know the full impacts of the pandemic, what we do know now is that over the coming years the number of women coming forward could overwhelm our already over-stretched workforce.

“Women with breast cancer have already paid an unacceptable price due to the pandemic – we simply cannot afford for any more time to pass before UK governments invest in and tackle the crisis facing the cancer workforce. Only then will we be giving women the best chance of an early breast cancer diagnosis which we know is critical to their chances of survival.”