Cancer improvements in England are ‘achievable’

The chief executive of NHS England, Simon Stevens said, “The good news is that survival rates are at their highest ever, but two-fifths of cancers are preventable and half of patients are now diagnosed when their cancers are advanced”.

Medics want the Government to consider big hikes in cigarette prices and a new “fat tax” to prevent 30,000 cancer deaths a year.

Under new plans, NHS patients in England should get results for cancer tests within four weeks of being referred by a GP by 2020.

In addition NHS England cancer task force are also aiming overhaul and replace old machines in a bid to improve care and move towards delivering world class cancer care in England.

It said radiotherapy is second only to surgery in its effectiveness in treating cancer but while 38% of cancer patients in England now have radiotherapy as part of their treatment, worldwide benchmarks suggest this should be closer to 50%.

“If both the NHS and the public at large don’t seize this moment and change, we’ll be overwhelmed in the coming years with more people being diagnosed with more cancers, and diagnosed too late”. Now the target is to send patients for cancer tests within two weeks, but some wait up to eight weeks for results to be returned.

“That’s why the NHS will be backing this groundbreaking route map for prevention, earlier diagnosis, modern treatments and compassionate care, which the Taskforce estimates could save 30,000 lives a year”.

It also claimed the estimated cost of cancer to the NHS is expected to double to £13billion in the next five years. If a patient is diagnosed with bowel cancer at an early stage it costs the NHS £3,500, but for late diagnosis the cost more than triples to £12,500. “It is not in the interests of patients or cost-effective that we allow this situation to persist”. What’s needed now is action.

Proposals also include a dedicated call system to enable patients displaying symptoms to bypass their GP and refer themselves for tests.

The taskforce has recommended that a National Cancer Team should oversee the delivery of its plan.

While survival rates have been improving, England still lags behind some of the best performing countries.

Cancer diagnoses are predicted to rise from 280,000 a year at present to 360,000 by 2030.

Sara Hiom, Cancer Research UK’s director of early diagnosis, said: “England’s cancer survival is not what it should be, and our research shows that the health service is struggling. It has to inspire action and lead to meaningful improvements for the lives of people with cancer”, she added.