Former health secretary blames NHS cuts for his cancer not being spotted earlier
A FORMER Tory health secretary has hit out at NHS cuts that he blames for his cancer not being spotted earlier.
Andrew Lansley called on the Government to improve bowel cancer screening, after revealing he is being treated for the disease.
The peer said cuts ‘wrongly’ imposed by the Treasury had frustrated the delivery of a screening programme he introduced in 2010, which could have ensured he was diagnosed sooner.
Lord Lansley has been told by doctors he has ‘every reason to hope’ his cancer can be effectively treated, but said he had been ‘lucky’ it was caught nine months ago.
He said it was only ‘nagging’ from his wife Sally Low that persuaded him to see his GP after suffering back pain.
Writing in the Daily Telegraph, the former minister called for action to ensure that future sufferers do not have to rely on chance for an early diagnosis, which is crucial to their survival.
It comes after BBC newsreader George Alagiah, 62, who is being treated for bowel cancer for the second time, said the disease could have been caught sooner with earlier screening.
As health secretary under David Cameron, Lord Lansley, 61, announced a new ‘bowel scope’ test to detect signs of cancer among 55-year-olds.
He said the scheme was intended to be rolled out across England by the end of 2016. However, it fell victim to cuts to Health Education England (HEE) imposed by the Treasury in 2014.
He wrote: ‘The bowel scope is only available to about 50 per cent of the population. A lack of endoscopists and difficulties with IT have frustrated delivery.
‘Bowel scope could save 3,000 lives a year, but training and recruiting endoscopists and support staff will take years.
‘Health Education England is getting more resources for training more NHS staff, reversing the Treasury-imposed cut to the HEE budget in 2014 – when it was treated, wrongly, as a budget not within the NHS “ring-fence”.’
Lord Lansley’s diagnosis was stage three tumours which had not spread to his liver, giving him ‘every reason to hope to be among the more than half of cancer patients who can look forward to long-term survival’.
But he said that if the bowel scope scheme had gone ahead as planned, he would have automatically been called in for screening.
He wrote: ‘ I want to know that for others like me in future, with better knowledge about symptoms, with earlier improved screening in place, and with a new focus on personalised preventative medicine, it really isn’t about luck.’
The peer called on ministers to cut the age for screening to 50 ‘in line with international best practice’. Deborah Alsina, chief execu- tive of Bowel Cancer UK and Beating Bowel Cancer, said: ‘As Lord Lansley rightly highlights, we need to urgently invest in both the endoscopy and pathology workforce to ensure we can deliver an optimal bowel cancer screening programme as this has been shown to be the best method of detecting bowel cancer early.
‘Each month we delay implementation, more people are put at risk of a late diagnosis, making their chance of long-term survival harder.’
A Department for Health spokesman said: ‘We want to lead the world in cancer care, and timely, effective screening is key to achieving that goal. That’s why the rollout of an additional test is well under way, which will mean all men and women in England are invited for bowel scope screening around the time of their 55th birthday.
‘This is in addition to the routine bowel cancer home testing programme already in place for people aged 60 and older.’
A Downing Street spokesman said: ‘The Prime Minister is sad to hear of Lord Lansley’s diagnosis and wishes him well in his treatment.
‘We have committed £200million over the next two years to improve early diagnosis and care.’
‘We want to lead the world’