Although a parliamentary report states that death rates from cancer have fallen and survival rates have improved since the publication of the NHS Cancer Plan in 2000, the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is still calling for more to be done to tackle the gap between the survival rates in England and those seen in the best-performing countries in Europe.
The committee’s latest report, entitled Delivering the Cancer Reform Strategy would indicate that progress is being made in delivering important aspects of cancer services and in meeting waiting time targets. There has also been a reduction in the average length of hospital stay for cancer patients since the publication of the five-year Cancer Reform Strategy in 2007, along with improvements in the number of patients treated as day cases. However, the Committee expressed concern that patients are often not diagnosed early enough and that there are ‘wide, unexplained variations’ in performance around the country. MPs also criticised the collection of information about key aspects of cancer services, such as chemotherapy and follow-up treatment. PAC chair Margaret Hodge said that the committee “fully supports” the work carried out by the Department of Health over the last 10 years, as mortality rates have fallen and cancer waiting time targets are consistently met. “However, the one-year survival rates in England are still poor compared with the bestperforming European countries and that is generally a sign of low awareness of symptoms, among the public and GPs, and late diagnosis,” she said.
