Why cancer diagnosis should be part of workforce-wide health support

Reports already say that cancer will affect 1 in 2 of us within our lifetime. Although most cases are in older people out of the workforce, new data shows incidences now rising in younger people.

For employees, the peace of mind from private cancer cover is incredibly valuable. For some businesses, however, it can be problematic. Cancer claims can be one of the most unstable elements of private medical insurance, and even a handful of large claims can potentially put premiums up significantly.

So how can companies balance cancer care and costs, especially across large populations or whole workforces?

One answer is to focus on cancer diagnosis. It’s widely accepted that early diagnosis is one of things that makes the biggest difference to health outcomes.

While survival rates in the UK depend heavily on the type of cancer, generally, patients diagnosed at stage one or two have higher survival prospects – often exceeding 90% for highly treatable cancers. Left unchecked to progress to stage four, survival drops dramatically across the board.

Taking the four most common cancers in the UK as an example, the five-year survival rate for prostate cancer when diagnosed at stage one can be up to 100%, dropping to just 50% when diagnosed at stage four. Breast cancer can also be up to 100% versus 30%, bowel cancer 90% versus 10%, and lung cancer 65% vs 5%.

Business view

For many businesses, helping more of the workforce access cancer diagnosis care feels more equitable than paying for full-blown cover for just a few people.

One senior power company head explained: “For our workforce, things like cancer are relatively rare. More pressing issues for UKPN employees include things like MSK problems – especially with so many people working in physical roles out in our network.

“The choice [to cover cancer diagnosis and not treatment] and balance the care and cost made sense to us, and I think it’s made sense to our people, too. Gold-plated health insurance for every single person just isn’t practical, affordable or sustainable.”

But what happens after diagnosis? Are employees left high and dry to fend for themselves?

GP view

These are really important questions for businesses.

“It’s tempting to think that private medicine is something that happens with these doctors over here, and that NHS medicine happens with those doctors over there – but that’s just not the case,” said one practising GP and GP trainer in the South East.

“Very often doctors will have both private and public lists of patients, and will work across several different hospitals to see them. The days when private and NHS care are completely separate are gone, and if you are diagnosed with something under your private medical insurance you can still choose to move back to the NHS at any time.

“Following a cancer diagnosis, the most important thing is to move onto the next steps – planning and delivery of treatment – as soon as possible. There are two ways this can happen. Either your consultant will put you on the NHS list, which can often be their own list, or ask your GP to start the process at your local NHS unit," he added.

“The decision is based on geographic considerations and the speed with which you will be seen, meaning that there could be a wait depending on NHS resources at the time, but your consultant should be able to steer you through the process.

“Cancer of any sort is a complicated disease that often involves multi-disciplinary teams to tackle it, from surgeons to radiologists, imaging specialists to after-care physiotherapists, immunotherapy to histotripsy – and many more teams and treatments. A private hospital may not have all of those resources. NHS cancer units do, and the quality of multidisciplinary decision-making is very high," he added.

“What’s more, after the point of diagnosis the NHS is still incredibly successful at treating cancer. Don’t do it down - in a health crisis, this is the team you want in your corner.”

The latest statisticss show that while diagnosis referrals are falling below targets, 92.8% of patients wait just 31 days from a decision to treat to first or subsequent treatment with the NHS.

Employee view

For individual employees who are cancer patients, the combination of diagnosis through private cover and transition to the NHS for treatment can be surprisingly smooth.

An Equipsme member describes her experience: “The [private] diagnostic process was just so swift. It meant my brain tumour didn’t have time to get worse – and I have years and hopefully decades with my family that I maybe wouldn’t otherwise have.

“I got the brain tumour news on a Thursday evening. The next day, I was in having another MRI scan. Monday I was in a private neurosurgeon’s office reviewing the second scan and discussing the risks of a craniotomy.

“It was only after they removed the tumour they could biopsy it, and that’s when we found out it was cancer. So at that point I was handed back over to the NHS.

“What was really good, though, was that I had the option to stay with my neurosurgeon and his oncology team – so I had that continuity of care carried through to my chemotherapy and radiotherapy.”

Key takeaways

By supporting early diagnosis, we believe organisations can help balance costs and cover – and extend that same level of care across their teams more widely.

Other terms and conditions may apply such as exclusions of pre-existing symptoms/conditions, or long-term/chronic conditions, so do read all of your plan literature carefully.
Look for early diagnosis services and fast-track diagnosis pathways for common forms of cancer.
Beware of caps and limits – cancer diagnosis might involve blood tests, MRI, CT and/or PET scans, biopsies or other tests, which can easily outstrip low limits.
Invest in prevention too – look for screening programmes and encourage take-up of health checks.

Bring people with you – be open about cover or benefit compromises, why you’re making them, and how doing a bit less for more people is creating benefit equity.