Insurance company Zurich has partnered with three cancer-surviving opera musicians to create a powerful operatic score highlighting the emotional toll of waiting for cancer treatment.
The piece, ‘About Time’, comes as new research reveals alarming statistics about cancer treatment delays in the UK.
More than one in three cancer patients now wait more than two months to begin treatment following an urgent GP referral, with one in six waiting more than 90 days. This falls far short of the NHS target, which aims to treat 85% of patients within 62 days of referral.
For many cancer patients, the waiting period proves to be the most challenging aspect of their journey. A staggering 67% of survivors report that waiting for treatment was worse than the treatment itself, financial worries, or even breaking the news of their illness to their children.
Scottish soprano Monica McGhee, who faced a potentially career-ending thyroid cancer diagnosis in 2017, composed About Time as a way to give voice to those enduring long waits.
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She was joined in the performance by English tenor Toby Spence, a thyroid cancer survivor, and Welsh pianist Lee Michael Walton, who has undergone extensive surgery for bone cancer.
“As an opera singer, I am fortunate to still have a career after discovering a tumour in my throat and will be eternally grateful for the swift surgery and effective treatment that put me on the road to recovery,” McGhee said, “Tragically, that isn’t the experience of 77,000 people in the UK every year, which is why I felt compelled to lend my voice to anyone who feels unheard, and unseen, at such a difficult time.”
“We stand on the cusp of a revolution in cancer treatment, with precision oncology and access to effective targeted treatments, as well as modern immunotherapies, offering promise for millions around the world” said Professor Hackshaw from the UCL Cancer Institute, who conducted the research for Zurich.
Nicky Bray, Chief Underwriter at Zurich added: “We are very lucky to have an NHS service in the UK, but the reality is, cancer is a waiting game, regardless of the challenges faced by the NHS. While many people are receiving a quick diagnosis and treatment, there are many factors influencing this – one of which is regionality. A cancer journey is not a linear path and there is no beginning middle or end.
!You wait for a diagnosis, then for treatment, then you wait to see if it has worked. Then for some, it’s about waiting for five years of remission as this changing disease could of course come back. With or without NHS delays, you’re always waiting for news which causes significant distress. Zurich helps people to protect the things they love, which is why we are committed to helping customers access rapid diagnosis.”
