Cancer care postcode lottery revealed in report on NHS

A POSTCODE lottery in cancer care is revealed in a report, which found that some patients are almost half as likely to get chemotherapy as those in other areas, depending on where they live.

Just 42 people out of 100 new cancer patients received chemotherapy in one area compared with 77 in the best performing region in 2014-15, the National Audit Office revealed. The report warned of “large variations” in access to treatment, quality of care and the price paid by the NHS for each patient.

Heidi Alexander, the shadow health secretary, said that the report revealed “an inexcusable postcode lottery” and called for ministers to act.

The NAO also warned that specialist treatment centres, including those for cancer, are so expensive they threaten funding for hospitals and GP services.

The budget for 146 specialist centres has risen by 6.3 per cent over the past year against an average 3.5 per cent increase for the NHS budget as a whole. The report also highlighted the variation in cost for operations, with a kidney transplant in one area costing £13,000 compared to £42,000 in another. The NAO stated: “The growth in spending on specialised services presents an ongoing risk to NHS financial stability.”

Cancer care advances will be hampered if Britain quits the European Union, researchers and oncologists have warned. Shared work and funding across the bloc is “vital” in tackling the disease, the experts said in an article for