Normal rates of pathology testing, including cancer testing, plummeted during the COVID-19 pandemic (for example, blood tests for prostate cancer – otherwise known as Prostate Specific Antigen testing – had decreased by 58% in the week starting 6 April 2020 when compared to the average for February). Tests like these can’t be provided remotely by telephone or telehealth (video conferencing), making face-to-face appointments vital. In a survey from Pathology Awareness Australia that aimed to shed light on how many Australians have delayed or avoided healthcare appointments and tests, 32% of respondents were found to have delayed or avoided a visit to a GP in the last three months, and 21% had missed or put off a pathology test.
Although statistics from recent weeks have indicated that testing rates may be slowly returning to normal, representatives from the health industry are calling for the public to act with more urgency, due to fears that thousands of people may be missing the window for early diagnosis.
In a statement from RCPA, CEO Dr Debra Graves said: "We're seeing lower diagnoses in relation to the lower testing at the moment, but as we rebound we will see more diagnoses and it might be later in the course of the disease." RACGP President Dr Harry Nespolon has echoed this concern, saying: “I urge anyone who might have put off seeing their GP to book an appointment now.”
“We don’t want to see 2021 being the year where cancer rates have increased, because we lost opportunities to really push people to book that appointment, to go and see their doctor… and to do the pathology tests that they need to.”
We hope to see renewed demand for testing services – and the workers who perform this testing – in the coming months.