Hospital admissions for skin cancer in England have shot up by 41 per cent in just five years, according to researchers at Public Health England (PHE). The research showed that 123,808 people were admitted to hospital with skin cancer in 2011, compared with 87,685 in 2007, leading to an annual spend of over £95 million on inpatient skin cancer care. The study also found that 78 per cent of non-melanoma skin cancers and 71.5 per cent of malignant melanomas required surgery.

Johnathon Major, spokesperson for the British Association of Dermatologists (BAD), commented: “Skin cancers are largely preventable and more must be done to communicate to the public the serious risks associated with unmediated sun exposure if we are to see a decline in these figures.”