Measuring Survival Rates
The NHS in England must get better at diagnosing cancers at an earlier stage if it is to improve survival rates, the Cancer Tsar has said. Professor Mike Richards wants more focus on one-year survival rates. His latest report, which has received the support of Health Secretary Andy Burnham, has revealed local survival rates for the first time.
Some Trusts failed to match the best rates elsewhere in Europe for the “big four” cancers – breast, colon, lung and prostate. There was also a great deal of variation. For example, the one-year survival rate for lung cancer patients in Herefordshire was just 15.4%, compared to Kensington and Chelsea’s rate of 43.7% and a national average of 28.1%.
The approach to actually measure tangible outcome – in this case, one-year survival seems pretty fundamental. Patients clearly have a right to know their treatment options and the likely success. There is major variation in quality of service, which is often linked to the adoption of the latest procedures as described by Dr Ian Sabin, Dr Chris Nutting, Miss Adeola Olaitan and Dr Stergios Zacharoulis within in Capital Health.
As highlighted in the latest reports, due to late diagnosis, up to 10,000 people in the UK every year die of cancer unnecessarily. Earlier detection of symptoms could save between 5,000 and 10,000 lives a year in England. An article published in the British Journal of Cancer this week (on Thursday 3rd December) highlights the work of the Improvement Foundation which addresses delays by encouraging patients to report their symptoms early, and general practices to refer to cancer specialists promptly and appropriately.
The Improvement Foundation programme, working with the Department of Health, focuses on breast, bowel and lung cancer, three of the most common cancers, responsible for 40% of all cancer deaths. This programme aims at galvanising local communities to recognise early symptoms and encourages them to visit a doctor to have the symptom checked.