JOHN BARON MP LEADS APPGC CALL FOR WORLD-CLASS ONE-YEAR CANCER SURVIVAL RATES

Lynda Thomas [Chief Executive, Macmillan Cancer Support] and Jane Ellison MP [Minister with Responsibility for Cancer]

John Baron MP has called on the NHS to improve its one-year cancer survival rates while hosting an All-Party Parliamentary Group on Cancer (APPGC) event in Parliament. John is Chairman of the APPGC.

By 2020, almost half of the UK population will receive a cancer diagnosis during their lifetime. Cancer survival rates in the UK are among the worst in Europe – not least because many people are diagnosed too late. The APPGC believes that this must change.

At the event, John was presented with the cancer survival rates in the Basildon and Brentwood Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) that showed that 70% of local people with cancer will live for a year after diagnosis. This is higher than the national one-year survival rate for England of 69%. By comparison, the one-year survival rate in Sweden is 81%.

The APPGC published a short report at the event which highlights that from April 2015 one-year survival rates have been included in the Delivery Dashboard of the CCG Assurance Framework – the highest tier of accountability at a local level. This means that CCGs are now scrutinised on what they are doing to improve earlier diagnosis in order to improve local one-year survival rates.

Speaking after the event, John said,

“The one-year cancer survival rates for the Basildon and Brentwood CCG will help residents to see how our local NHS is performing and demand improvements. As the MP, I will continue to meet the CCG leadership to discuss how we can ensure more local people survive cancer.”

“In our area only 70% of people live for a year or more after a cancer diagnosis. In Sweden, the figure is 81%. More work is therefore needed through earlier diagnosis to increase this number, as the UK still has among the lowest survival rates in Europe. Better screening uptake, diagnostics at Primary Care, public awareness and GP training are all possible initiatives our local CCG could introduce. Many lives each year could be saved as a result.”