MPs have stated that the reluctance among patients to bother GPs is one of the reasons national cancer survival rates are up to 15 years behind comparable countries. Earlier diagnosis and better treatment were needed for the UK to improve.
The Times quoted Professor Sir Mike Richards, former national cancer director, who said: “I remember we presented this to the other countries and they just raised their eyebrows at that and said, ‘Isn’t that what it’s all about?’ ”
GPs in the UK are less likely to refer patients to hospital services with suspected cancer, he added, while diagnostic services were under strain and needed more equipment and staff.
Jon Emery, professor of primary care cancer research at the University of Melbourne, went on record to say that the NHS funding system in which GPs were paid per patient, rather than for services carried out, may play a role.
It has been previously reported in the press that the NHS cancer leaders had earlier said that they were cautiously optimistic they would meet a target to diagnose 75 per cent of cancers at stage one or two by 2028, compared with 55 per cent now. The NHS announced a £20 million push to speed up cancer diagnosis.
