THE EXPERIENCE OF UK BLADDER CANCER PATIENTS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: A SURVEY-BASED SNAPSHOT

The Covid-19 pandemic has placed unprecedented strain on healthcare systems worldwide. Within this context, UK cancer services have undergone significant disruption to create capacity for the National Health Service. As a charity that endeavours to support bladder cancer (BC) patients and improve outcomes, Action Bladder Cancer UK (ABCUK) designed and administered a SurveyMonkey survey to investigate the prevalence of such disruption for BC patients. From 22nd April to 18th June 2020, 142 BC patients responded. Across all patient groups, 46.8% of patients described disruption to their treatment or follow-up. For non-muscle-invasive BC (NMIBC) patients, disruptions included postponement of: initial transurethral resection of bladder tumour (TURBT) (33.3%), subsequent TURBT (40.0%), and surveillance cystoscopy (58.1%). For NMIBC patients undergoing intravesical therapy, 68.4% experienced treatment postponements or curtailments. For muscle-invasive BC patients, 57.1% had experienced postponement of cystectomy and 14.3% had been changed from cystectomy to radiotherapy. Half of patients undergoing systemic chemotherapy also experienced disruption. Despite the survey's limitations, we have demonstrated considerable disruption to the care of BC patients during the UK Covid-19 pandemic. To avoid a repeat, the UK BC community should define effective contingent ways of working ready for a possible second wave of Covid-19, or any other such threat.