Many surveys have indicated that current care for oncology patients in the UK is below European standards. Reasons for such include lack of reimbursement from the NHS for new and expensive therapies, among others.  According to a recent editorial in the Lancet, “The UK Government was due to publish the next version of the 10-year cancer plan for England in the summer of 2022 with the aim of improving cancer outcomes to match the best in Europe. However, recent political turmoil has resulted in no clear date for when the plan will appear. Given the considerable challenges on health care in the UK, we call on the new Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, to break this inaction and publish a fully detailed plan as a matter of urgency…”

The editorial also states, “There are huge discrepancies in survival for patients with cancer in England depending on where they live, leaving them vulnerable to a so-called postcode lottery for cancer care. A major contributing factor is that the number of patients being treated within 2 months of a referral is well below the English national target of 85%. In September 2022, figures released by NHS England showed the worst delays in 3 years, with only 64% of patients beginning definitive treatments within 62 days. In Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, comparable figures were just 79%, 57%, and 42%, respectively. These systems-based problems exist on a more granular scale, too: for example, cetuximab is available in Wales and Scotland, but not in England; and in 2021, only 30% of patients with cancer diagnosed in one district in north London received a first round of chemotherapy within 2 months of referral while just 6 miles away in a district in east London, 95% of patients received their first treatment within this timeframe.”1

Click here to read the complete editorial.

References

  1. The Lancet Oncology. (2022). Still waiting for a UK cancer plan that truly delivers. The Lancet Oncology, 23(12), 1475. https://doi.org/10.1016/s1470-2045(22)00702-1

Disclaimers

  • The material in these reviews is from various public open-access sources, meant for educational and informational purposes only
  • Any personal opinions expressed are those of only the author(s) and are not intended to represent the position of any organization(s)
  • No official support by any organization(s) has been provided or should be inferred