Breast cancer care differences ‘unacceptable’

WOMEN FACE “unacceptable differences” in breast cancer care across England, a new report has concluded.

The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Breast Cancer said women face a postcode lottery in the care they receive across the country.

Some women are being diagnosed at an earlier stage of their breast cancer than others, some offered life-saving drugs while others are not, and some women receive the care of specialist nurses while others have no such support, the group of MPs found.

For instance, depending on where they live in England, some women are more than twice as likely to die from breast cancer under the age of 75.

And just 62 per cent of breast cancers are being detected early in some areas, compared with 88 per cent in top-performing areas.

According to the charity Breast Cancer Now, the proportion of breast cancers detected at early and more treatable stages (referred to as stages 1 and 2) was 74.8 per cent in Yorkshire and Humber, above the England average of 71 per cent. When this is broken down to regions by clinical care commissioning groups (CCGs), Bradford City CCG was the worst performer for early detection, with 71.4 per cent detected at stage 1 and 2. The bestperforming region for this measure was NHS North Kirklees CCG – with 76.9 per cent detected at early stages.

Findings also reveal that NHS Greater Huddersfield CCG had the lowest mortality from breast cancer for women under 75 in the region – with 15.2 deaths per 100,000.

This is compared to the CCG

with the highest mortality rate, NHS North East Lincolnshire CCG, with 29.1 deaths per 100,000.

Also in Yorkshire, for 95.4 per cent of cases the recommended two-week maximum wait was achieved, making this the secondbest performing region in England. However, a spokesperson for the charity added that the region has seen an overall decrease in the past decade for screening and that it was the largest decrease of any region, reflecting “the worrying countrywide decline over the past 10 years”.

The APPG report states that there are “stark differences” in the availability of services, which can even occur among women living on opposite sides of the same town.

MPs also raised concerns that there is confusion over who should be funding which services and a lack of accountability for the delivery of services.

In a joint statement, MPs Thangam Debonnaire, Craig Tracey and Dr Philippa Whitford, who co-chair the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Breast Cancer, said: “Our inquiry has uncovered a concerning postcode lottery in screening uptake, early diagnosis and access to breast cancer services across England.

“This variation in NHS services can have a devastating impact on patients’ lives and must be addressed.

“In particular, the demographic timebomb facing the breast cancer workforce poses a worrying threat to the significant progress made in recent decades.”

Public Health Minister Steve Brine for the Department of Health said: “We have made huge progress on tackling cancer with survival rates at a record high.

“Our NHS breast screening programme is estimated to save 1,300 lives a year alone, but we know we need to go further.

“That’s why we’ve committed £200m to find innovative ways to drive earlier diagnosis and support people living with and beyond cancer so we can reach our goal of saving a further 30,000 lives a year by 2020.”