Professor Alan Irvine:

I thank the Senator for her question on patients with symptoms not presenting. It is really important and is a cause for concern for our members. Many members are saying they are not seeing the volume of people presenting with colorectal or other cancers that would normally be expected based on year-on-year averages. That is definitely the feedback we are getting. It is an important message to get out. There is no question but that we are in the second wave of the pandemic but it is not April. The health service is better prepared. People who have urgent symptoms will be seen and assessed and should present to their GPs, possibly remotely if that is the safest way to proceed. They should also subsequently attend their appointments if they have new symptoms. We want those people to come because we simply do not know how long this phase is going to last. Nobody does. It is not predictable. People with urgent symptoms need to come and have them investigated and treated. Time-sensitive cancer care remains in operation, as does time-sensitive care for heart disease. We want these people to present. The hospital environment has been made safe and accommodating. People are much better at dealing with this than we were in April. We had to learn a lot in April. Services effectively shut for non-Covid work. There was a huge burden on us. Those services are not going to shut again. We cannot afford to let them. People should and must present. It would be welcome to see them.