Cancer is "top priority" for NHS Dorset despite Macmillan saying cancer care is in "crisis"
Charity criticises UK cancer delays but 96% of patients are seen within a month in Dorset
Dorset has NOT seen the same impact in ‘cancer diagnosis waiting times’ as other parts of the country according to health bosses in the county.
That's despite Macmillan Cancer Support reporting that tens of thousands of people with cancer in the UK have experienced delays to vital cancer checks and tests over the last decade.
Sally Rickard from Wessex Cancer Alliance told us: “We're proud that we've managed to maintain and improve on waiting times really significantly. The standard is that 96% of patients are seen within a month and that was absolutely constant in Dorset.”
Richard Sim is the Cancer Lead for Dorset, he said: “One of the things we’re really keen on is making sure that all of those people can access those services as quickly as possible. We're hoping to provide a service where there is minimal or no delay.”
Macmillan Cancer Support said that cancer care is in “crisis” after they found 180,000 people waited "too long" for diagnosis tests or to start treatment across the UK over the last 10 years.
In a survey of almost 2,500 adults in the UK - who have had a cancer diagnosis in the last 10 years - 23% said the delay had seen their symptoms get worse or make their cancer 'incurable' or led to them having 'fewer treatment options'.
Gemma Peters, chief executive at Macmillan Cancer Support, said: “Every single person who has faced a worse outcome from their cancer diagnosis because of delays will know the devastating impact that waiting has had on their lives, from the burden of anxiety that their cancer is growing, and for many, the devastating news that their cancer is now incurable.”
Ms Rickard refuted claims that cancer care is in ‘crisis’, she insisted that it’s advancing at an ‘incredible rate’: “We have so many new and innovative developments coming in cancer care. The curability of cancer is changing week to week and what we're seeing now is cancer that five years ago would have been incurable, we're now seeing those cancers cured.”
NHS Dorset told us cancer is their “top priority” and that’s why they’ve invested heavily into one-stop clinics where patients can go in, see a consultant and receive an initial definitive diagnosis or all clear on the same day.
Richard Sim said: “In Dorset, we've got good relationships between the hospitals. We’ve got a cancer hub where we were moving patients as needed, so instead of patients staying at the initial hospital, they were going to where the capacity was to be treated.”