Cancer patients in Warrington waiting longer for treatment

DOZENS of NHS patients diagnosed with cancer last year in the Warrington and Halton areas waited longer than the expected two-month period before starting treatment, according to a new analysis of official figures.
In the Warrington and Halton Hospital Trust area last year a total of 53 patients waited too long for chemotherapy, radiotherapy and other forms of treatment for cancer – a worrying increase of 10% on the previous year.
Labour’s analysis of official NHS cancer care statistics shows over 20,000 patients waiting too long for treatment last year across England.
Patients have a right to receive their first treatment within 62 days of receiving an urgent GP referral for suspected cancer, according to the NHS Constitution. However, the NHS in England missed the target for all four quarters in 2014.
At the Warrington and Halton Hospital Trust, the patients who faced treatment delays included one with breast cancer, twenty with lung cancer, two with stomach or bowel cancer, one with skin cancer and thirteen with bladder, kidney or prostate cancer.
Local Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Warrington South, Nick Bent, (pictured top) commented: “These figures show that you can’t trust David Cameron with our NHS.
“When it comes to beating cancer, speed is everything. Labour is committed to cancer tests and results within one week to help end this scandal.”
These new cancer treatment figures come after separate NHS data last week revealed a record 19,000 patients waiting more than six weeks for key diagnostic tests, including seven that detect cancer. Patients must be tested promptly in order to begin treatment at the earliest opportunity. Labour’s election pledge card, unveiled at the weekend, commits the next Government to providing cancer tests and results within one week by 2020.
Last autumn, a Cancer Research UK report said the current Coalition Government’s NHS reorganisation had left services “standing still for the last two to three years” and that the changes were “hampering efforts to develop services and improve performance”. Meanwhile, NHS spending on cancer care in England fell by £790 million in the early years of this Parliament.
Andy Burnham MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, said: “David Cameron cut the cancer budget by £800 million in real terms and, despite all the warnings, he persisted with an NHS reorganisation that disrupted cancer services. The deterioration in cancer care is a direct consequence of Government policies and the clearest proof the Tories can’t be trusted with the NHS. Ministers have left families facing anxious waits for cancer tests and treatment and their complacency is dangerous.”