NAO warns of problems in cancer services

Friday, 25 February 2005 12:00 AM

Too many cancer patients are still waiting weeks to be diagnosed, the Government's spending watchdog has warned.

The National Audit Office has produced a progress report on NHS cancer services, which acknowledges that some progress has been made, but is critical of shortcomings in a number of areas.

The survey of 4,300 people with breast, lung, bowel and prostate cancer found widespread satisfaction with the service received from GPs.

However, while the Government's target for 99 per cent of urgent referrals to a specialist to be seen within two weeks was met, the performance for non-urgent referrals was much worse.

Forty-two per cent of respondents stated that they had not been seen within two weeks, and around 20 per cent waited for more than a month.

Twenty per cent of respondents believed that their cancers had worsened during their waits to be seen by a specialist.

The survey revealed particular weaknesses in cancer services in London, and in prostate cancer services.

Noting that authoritative NHS guidance on prostate cancer was only published in 2002, Jeremy Gostick, the NAO's audit manager, suggested, "it is certainly true that prostate cancer services have not been developed as quickly as some of the others in the past."

While the survey presents a generally improving picture, NAO head Sir John Bourn warned, "even if only 10 per cent of patients with major cancers were dissatisfied with some aspect of their care, that amounts to over 10,000 people a year."

Peter Cardy, chief executive of Macmillan Cancer Relief, stated, "there are huge variations depending on where you live and the type of cancer you are diagnosed with. We are still concerned that many of the aspects that matter to patients are being ignored, especially good quality information and support."

Conservative Shadow Health Minister John Baron said the report provided little objective evidence that services were improving.

Mr Baron said: "This report measures perception not real outcomes. Whilst congratulating NHS staff in the work they do in cancer care, the report provides little objective evidence of things improving."

He said that Conservatives would remove centrally imposed targets and replace them with clinical standards, drawn up by medical experts, which he claimed "would be much fairer to all patients".

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