EXCLUSIVE: Scandal of postcode lottery costing cancer patients’ lives
MORE than a third of cancer patients are dying within a year of being diagnosed in parts of Britain in what campaigners have described as an “inexcusable” postcode lottery.
Figures released by the Office for National Statistics show that the Kent borough of Swale and the London borough of Barking and Dagenham have the worst survival rates with 36 per cent of newly diagnosed cancer sufferers dying in the first year.
This compares with North-east Hampshire and Farnham, in Surrey, which have the best survival rate in the country with almost three-quarters (73.3 per cent) living for longer than a year.
From next month every Clinical Commissioning Group in the country will be assessed on its one-year survival rates in a bid to drive up standards and improve early diagnosis to try to save up to 6,000 lives a year.
Last night Gus Baldwin, head of public affairs at Macmillan Cancer Support, welcomed the news.
He said: “There is currently an inexcusable postcode lottery of cancer survival in England and 6,000 people dying needlessly within 12 months of being diagnosed every year.
“These new measures should take significant steps towards addressing this.
"However, if we want to get serious about improving our survival rates, all CCGs must focus on not only improving early diagnosis and decreasing the proportion of people diagnosed with cancer in A&E but also tackling the under-treatment of older people and providing better support for people once treatment had finished.”
There is currently an inexcusable postcode lottery of cancer survival in England
Mr Baldwin said there were 2.5 million people in the UK with cancer, with the number set to rise.
He urged the leaders of all political parties to tackle the issue, which is already putting considerable strain on the NHS.
Ahead of the upcoming general election, Macmillan Cancer Support is calling on all political parties to prioritise cancer survival rates and commit to cancer outcomes that match the best in Europe,” he said.
The one-year survival rate for lung cancer is just 30 per cent in the UK, compared with 44 per cent in Sweden and the five-year survival rate for people over 75 in the UK with lung, stomach or kidney cancer is lower than in eastern Europe.
The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Cancer has been campaigning for the one-year cancer survival indicator.
Last night its chairman, Tory MP John Baron, said: “I’m delighted that from April 2015 all CCGs will be held to account on their one-year cancer survival rates.
“At least 5,000 lives a year could be saved if England’s survival rates matched European averages.”
He said CCGs could achieve this through initiatives such as awareness-raising campaigns, better uptake of screening, improved diagnostics at primary care and better GP training and referral programmes.
