Understanding the experiences of cancer patients referred for a clinical trial during the COVID-19 pandemic

Patient care was profoundly affected during the COVID-19 pandemic because of the need to minimise patient and staff exposure to the virus (Dietz et al, 2020). In health care, social distancing measures were imposed and the use of personal protective equipment in everyday procedures was made mandatory for NHS staff (Mantelakis et al, 2021).

In cancer services, one of the main consequences of the pandemic has been the overall reduction in the number of people having their cancer diagnosed at an early stage, due to the reduction in the availability of screening services (Lai et al, 2020). A long-term effect of this is that the pandemic is predicted to increase the number of people presenting with advanced cancer in the future (Nossiter et al, 2022).

Following the introduction of social distancing guidelines, cancer patients attending hospital appointments were told to do so without being accompanied by family members, many patient appointments were cancelled, and telephone or video consultations were used to reduce inpatient time (Drury et al, 2021). Additionally, the NHS adapted cancer treatment services, which meant that, in some cases, patients would have their cancer treatments delivered to their homes (Shankar et al, 2020). In some areas of the UK, drive-through services for the collection of medicines and blood tests were also set up (Shankar et al, 2020).