The Cancer Reform Strategy’s second annual report has highlighted large regional variations in cancer patient survival rates and access to services.
The figures are published as part of the second annual report for the Cancer Reform Strategy, the vision document published in December 2007 setting out all the improvements that should be implemented over the next five years.
The variation among primary care trusts (PCTs) was biggest for lung cancer survival, with patients in Herefordshire three times more likely to die within a year of diagnosis compared with patients in Kensington & Chelsea.
Last year, the Cancer Reform Strategy Advisory Board accepted that falling mortality rates indicated good progress had been made at a national level but recommended that this year’s annual report focus primarily on local progress.
As a result, this year’s report Achieving Local Implementation includes local information, including mortality rates, one-year survival rates and breast and cervical cancer screening coverage, so the NHS can identify priorities for action.
Health Secretary Andy Burnham said: “Cancer treatment in Britain has improved vastly in recent years and this is shown in the falling mortality rates and increasing survival rates. However we know that survival rates vary across the country, particularly in deprived areas, so this year’s report has deliberately focused on local variations so we can highlight to the NHS where they need to take action.”
He added: “I hope that the publication of this data, combined with the Prime Minister’s pledge to give patients key diagnostic tests within just one week of seeing their GP, will save thousands more lives.”
Cancer charities have welcomed the improvements but expressed concern about the local differences in survival.
Harpal Kumar, Chief Executive of Cancer Research UK, said: “It’s thanks to the Cancer Reform Strategy and the work of the National Cancer Director that we now have this critical information available for the first time. However, these shocking statistics confirm that the cancer postcode lottery remains a real problem.
“Patients are undoubtedly not being diagnosed early enough in large parts of the country, nor are they getting equal access to the best treatments, such as surgery for lung cancer. It’s a disgrace that such a small proportion of PCTs have survival rates that match the best figures in Europe, or even the best rates in Europe ten years ago.
“This needs urgent action. We’re pleased that the Department of Health has been bold enough to publish these figures. The NHS now needs to take them very seriously.”