‘We need more people

enough to detect if they have cancer. Many could be saved if they were tested and diagnosed earlier.

However, the number of urgent GP referrals in England, where patients see a specialist within two weeks, has this year fallen below the NHS target of 93 per cent for the first time since 2003.

This amounted to 122,835 patients between January and September not being referred within 14 days.

Research led by Sir Mike Richards, former director of National Cancer which is funded by the Department of Health, examined the last 20 years of cancer care in England.

He said: “Every year thousands of deaths could be avoided if we achieved these goals.

Promised

“This is the equivalent to a jumbo jet of people falling from the sky every two weeks.”

The first NHS Cancer Plan launched in 2000 promised that by 2010 “our five-year survival rates for cancer will compare with the best in Europe”.

The study found that almost two decades later the UK still trailed far behind other countries in availability of diagnostic equipment – ranking 35 out of 37 countries for the number of CT scanners and 31 out of 36 for MRI equipment.

The UK is also hit with staff shortages and constraints on the number of at-risk patients referred for testing by their GPs.

Sir Mike said: “The NHS Cancer Plan in 2000 and all subsequent cancer strategies have set ambitions for England to match the best in Europe or the world in relation to cancer survival. Although progress has been made on many aspects of cancer, these aims have not been achieved.” The study warned that increasing the number of referrals will also require investment across the healthcare system.

Study co-author Dr Rebecca Fisher added: “We need not only the facilities, we need more people to be able to operate the scanners and to interpret the results.”

The average UK survival rates for breast, lung, colon and rectum cancer from 2010 to 2014 were lower than Canada, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Australia, according to the latest analysis of international variation in cancer survival.

The survival rate for ovarian cancer was 10 per cent higher in Sweden than the UK for the same period – 46.5 per cent compared to 36.2 per cent. In a report published by the Health Foundation, researchers warned more people suspected of having cancer needed to be referred for investigation by their GPs.

NICE guidelines recommend that patients with a three per cent or higher risk should be given further testing. They have not yet been fully implemented and efforts are being made to increase GP awareness.

Early detection and diagnosis is critical to improving a person’s chances of survival, as early-stage cancer is more responsive to treatment. The five-year survival rate for bowel cancer is 90 per cent if caught early, but less than 10 per cent if diagnosed late. However, the proportion of people being diagnosed at an early stage remained almost static from 2015 to 2017.

Disruption caused by reforms following the Health and Social Care Act in 2012 and recent cuts to funding for preventative measures – such as raising awareness of the dangers of obesity and smoking – have also had a negative impact on progress, Dr Richards’ study found.

It warned if the UK was to catch up in lowering survival rates a “whole-system” change was needed. It also called for the introduction of more Rapid Diagnostic and Assessment Centres and for more patients to undergo endoscopies and other tests to screen for bowel cancer.

Sir Mike said of the report’s recommendations: “The Prime Minister’s ambitious target to increase early detection of cancer from one in two people today, to three in four by 2028, is welcome, but setting targets and handing out money will not be enough.

“The NHS must change the way that care is currently organised to make it easier for people to be seen and diagnosed as quickly as possible, as we know this gives them the best chance of survival.” Emma