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| Britain |
| NHS bureacracy wasting billions of pounds intended to treat cancer patients |
| 2005-02-07 |
| A report by Doctors for Reform says much of the money has been spent on creating new posts for bureaucrats. The think tank made up of 900 doctors and consultants said patients are worse off now than they were five years ago and the £2bn invested in NHS cancer services in those years has offered poor value for money. Director Andrew Haldenby said: "Cancer patients often live in poor health unnecessarily for long periods of time due to a lack of co-ordination of their care by overstretched treatment services." One consultant, Professor Karol Sikora of Hammersmith Hospital, said: "In theory you could get the best treatment available in the world from the NHS - it just depends how lucky you are and where you live." He said the two key failings were in the wait for scans, x-rays and radiotherapy, which could be up to six months. Prof Sikora added: "We are falling behind the rest of Europe and it seems to be because the resources are not being directed where they are needed and not being used effectively." He said cancer care is being stifled by too many agencies and cash is being wasted on appointing several hundred new administrative staff who are unable to improve the service because of shortages in frontline staff. Mike Richards, the Department of Health's national director for Cancer, said there have been difficulties in reducing waiting times for radiotherapy because demand has increased in recent years. And Health Secretary John Reid added: "Literally thousands of people are alive today thanks to the extra money and resources this government has invested in tackling cancer. Mortality rate from cancer has fallen by 12% in the last six years. "This has not happened by accident. We have invested £570m in cancer services. There are 1,182 extra cancer consultants and 1,100 new pieces of equipment such as scanners since 1997." ...and the radical drop in the number of cigarette smokers has *nothing* to do with it. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |