For tens of thousands of people suffering serious diseases such as cancer, the arrival of the coronavirus has thrown their treatment off course – with the UK's universal healthcare system, the National Health Service (NHS), prioritizing pandemic cases. 

On 23 March, all NHS clinical drug trials were put on hold for COVID-19 research, with staff redeployed to pandemic care. This has left some families, such as that of three-year-old Beatriz Farmer-Maia, known as "Bibi," in a difficult situation.   

Bibi was just two years old when she was diagnosed with high-risk neuroblastoma, a rare type of cancer that affects nerve tissue. More than a year of treatment, including high-dose chemotherapy, means her disease is currently stable, but more treatment lies ahead.

She had been due to take part in an NHS clinical trial at a hospital in the city of Southampton in the coming weeks, but now all such trials have been postponed and the NHS has declined to comment on when they may resume.

"We've been a lot through so far so we're a bit numb at the moment," said Bibi's father, Tiago Maia. "At least we weren't told 'That's it, game over,' so we take it a day at a time."

Some experts believe the NHS was obliged to halt all drug trials in the present circumstances. Karol Sikora, professor of oncology at the University of Buckinghamshire and former director of the World Health Organization's cancer program, said this was a necessary step.

"The NHS had no choice," he told CGTN Europe. "We didn't know how high the [COVID-19] surge would be over Easter, which was the peak period. We've dealt with it now, so we can start focusing on other things and clinical trials have to be part of it.

"The future of the whole of medicine is based on clinical trials and it's sad for them to be interrupted. We've got to get them going again."

Bibi's parents are trying not to be angry about the chaotic situation.

"It's odd, after 18 months, we are used to things being out of our control," Bibi's mother Laura Farmer told CGTN Europe. "We could be furious that the trial's not open, but I don't think it would help us or anyone, so we focus on what we can do.

"It's awful, awful timing for anyone involved in this sort of situation at the moment with cancer treatment – I know there are grown-ups having their chemo delayed or stopping all together. We're in the same boat and it's awful." 

The family's hopes now rest on a fundraising drive to raise cash needed for highly specialized treatment for Bibi's neuroblastoma at centers in the U.S. or Spain.

Their hope is that Bibi's condition will remain stable until the NHS clinical trial reopens. If not, her family may face additional difficulties to their plans to seek treatment abroad – not least how to get there during a global pandemic lockdown.

Check out The Pandemic Playbook, CGTN Europe's major investigation into the lessons learned from COVID-19