NHS hopeless with cancer

You could literally die waiting

More than half of all cancer patients needing lifesaving radiotherapy are waiting longer than the Government's "maximum acceptable delay" for treatment, according to a damning report. The Times has been told that the paper shows huge variations in the delivery of treatments around the country, with many "black holes" where services are extremely poor.

The study, by the National Radiotherapy Advisory Group, has not been published and ministers have not indicated that it will be. But Professor Karol Sikora, a cancer specialist, said that it should provoke "an outcry for better provision". It mirrors a survey by the Royal College of Radiologists which concludes that radiotherapy waiting times are "unacceptable" and delays "reduce the chance of a cure and worsen outcomes in some patients".

There has been an outcry over the availability of new cancer drugs but radiotherapy is often forgotten. "It's the unsexy part of cancer treatment," Professor Sikora said. "It's as good as the drugs but isn't thought of as being as exciting." The college's audit shows that only a minority of patients are treated within even the targets set by the Government. In 2005, only 47 per cent of patients needing postoperative radiotherapy got it within the "maximum acceptable delay" of four weeks. In Wales the figure was a mere 26 per cent.

The audit followed earlier ones, in 1998 and 2003, and shows that waiting times have become longer since 1998, when around a third of patients waited for more than four weeks. The delays worsened considerably between 1998 and 2003 and have improved slightly since then. The audit concludes: "It is imperative that waits for radiotherapy are reduced for all patients to maximise their chance of a cure." The authors, led by Michael Williams, of Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, added that "achieving this will require a planned programme of investment in staff, training and equipment."

Professor Sikora, who has been clinical director of cancer services at Hammersmith Hospital and chief of the World Health Organisation's cancer programme, said: "Systematic delays abound. Three months' waiting time for radiotherapy is common."

Yet cancer is seen by the Government as one of its successes. Cancer mortality in people under 75 fell by 16 per cent between 1996 and 2004 and an extra 639 million pounds was invested in the three years up to 2004. "The year-on-year increase in funding has been staggering," Professor Sikora said, adding that far more is needed.

Professor Sikora has recently set up CancerPartnersUK, which is talking to hospitals about building a chain of privately-funded cancer care units with the aim of reducing the distance patients must travel. Maps based on population density and existing services show where the need is greatest. "Black spots" for cancer treatment (above) where people have to travel long distances, abound around the M25, the South Coast, in the North West and North East of England.

Source

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For greatest efficiency, lowest cost and maximum choice, ALL hospitals and health insurance schemes should be privately owned and run -- with government-paid vouchers for the very poor and minimal regulation. Both Australia and Sweden have large private sector health systems with government reimbursement for privately-provided services so can a purely private system with some level of government reimbursement or insurance for the poor be so hard to do?

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