UK cancer patients “wait too long” for treatment
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Many British patients suffering from cancer are waiting too long before being seen by a specialist, although referral times have improved over the last five years, a House of Commons committee said on Thursday.
Around 40 percent of people ultimately diagnosed with cancer were not referred urgently and were not seen by a specialist within two weeks of referral in 2004, the Public Accounts Committee said in a report.
“Cancer patients are being looked after better than they were five years ago and generally well,” said the committee’s chairman Edward Leigh.
“But the experience of cancer sufferers is not as good as it could be. Too many are waiting too long to see a specialist following referral by a GP.”
More than one quarter of bowel cancer patients had to wait more than one month in 2004 to see a specialist after being referred by their family doctor, during which time around 30 percent said their condition had deteriorated.
In the same year just 32 percent of prostate cancer patients were seen within two weeks, compared to 70 percent of patients with breast cancer, an inequality Leigh said was “unacceptable.”
The government has since committed itself to “demonstrably large improvements” in prostate cancer care, the committee said.
Health Minister Rosie Winterton said cancer death rates had fallen by 14 percent since 1996 but accepted more could be done to help cancer sufferers.
“Patients are seeing the benefits of more staff, more modern equipment such as scanners to detect cancer, shorter waiting times to see a specialist and increased access to the latest drugs,” she said.
“The report also recognises that there is more work to be done. We acknowledge this and have put actions in place to maintain the momentum of improvement.”
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