THE number of Great Western Hospital breast cancer patients seen by a consultant within the recommended two-weeks window dropped to the lowest in December since records began over a decade ago.

NHS England data shows 247 patients with suspected breast cancer were referred by GPs for urgent investigations during the month. But just 22 were seen on time.

The need to cut clinics as a result of the Covid pandemic has been blamed for the drop.

But charity Breast Cancer Now said the frightening consequence of vital targets being missed across England was that more women could be living with the disease without knowing.

A hospital spokeswoman said: “We had to reduce clinics due to social distancing requirements and other challenges brought about by Covid-19.

“We are currently working on extending our waiting area, which will mean more people can be seen at any one time, and are working to introduce additional clinics.

“Every patient who is seen receives a gold standard treatment pathway, which means that they receive a triple assessment at their first appointment and the breast team then aim to treat within 62 days where a cancer is diagnosed.

“We would encourage anybody who has any concerns about cancer to speak with their GP at the earliest opportunity, and would remind local people about the importance of attending an appointment at the hospital when they are offered one.”

One patient, Maggie Pavelin from Rodbourne underwent treatment for one of the most aggressive types last year after she discovered lumps in her breast. It was her second bout against the disease.

She said: “Both times the hospital was very quick to respond, I was called in as quickly this time as I was back in 2011. I had surgery at Ridgeway Hospital in April 2020.

“I’ve completed chemo last year during the early part of the pandemic at Ridgeway Hospital and then they moved the services back into GWH for the second part.”

Maggie said she is now recovering slowly. “It takes a while. The only thing that’s been more difficult this time is the follow-up because hospitals aren’t able to see people very easily and it’s also very risky for me to go to the hospital to see people.

“So, they take riskless approaches and they only ask you to come in to be seen in person if the risk of you not doing so is greater than the risk for you from Covid.”

She is urging anyone to get checked. “People need to come forward if they feel there’s something that might be wrong,” she said.

“Don’t be afraid because they are restricting the people that they don’t need to see from coming in the hospital, so that the people that they really need to see are safe.”

NHS figures show just two-thirds of patients with breast cancer symptoms, when cancer was not initially suspected, were seen within two weeks in December – also a record low.

At Great Western Hospitals, 83 such patients were referred by GPs in December, with six seen within two weeks.

Chair of the Ridgeway Breast Care Support Group Jo Garton said people should check their breasts on a monthly basis.

Jo, from Old Town, found out about her breast cancer in January 2013 after she noticed a puckered area of skin on her chest.

The former headteacher of Bridlewood Primary School said: “I remembered saying at the time I can’t have breast cancer, I have two children 16 and 18, which is the most stupid thing to say.”

She is now in remission but the group is supporting women - and men - who are worried. “Because we have years of experience in our group, if somebody gets in touch with us, and says ‘I’ve got this kind of cancer’ - because there are so many different types - then we would know someone who had it and put them in touch.

“Sometimes people message us saying they’ve got a lump and the first thing we tell them is to go straight to their GP. If it’s someone who had breast cancer before we say the same thing, or we tell them to ring the clinical nurse specialist at GWH or Ridgeway Hospital. We really try to encourage anyone who has any concerns to get checked.”

Breast Cancer Now said the latest figures, which reflected a similar drop, were deeply worrying.

Chief executive Baroness Delyth Morgan said: “Facing longer waits at an already incredibly difficult time can cause women huge anxiety, and the frightening consequence of these vital targets being missed is that more women could be living with undetected breast cancer due to delayed diagnoses.This issue has to be addressed as early diagnosis is key to giving treatment the best chance of success.”

An NHS spokeswoman said hospitals carried out more than two cancer procedures for every coronavirus patient they treated in 2020.

She added: “These figures show people should come forward if they have a worrying symptom because the NHS has, even at the highest point of the second wave of the pandemic, maintained capacity to carry out cancer checks and support people to start treatment.”

A Department for Health and Social Care spokesman said cancer diagnosis and treatment has remained a priority throughout the pandemic, with £150 million provided in October to allow the NHS to expand diagnostic capacity.