John Baron MP welcomes latest one-year cancer survival statistics

MP says earlier diagnosis key to improving survival rates

Today the Office for National Statistics and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine released the latest one-year cancer survival figures, both nationally and broken down by Clinical Commissioning Group. The positive news is that over the past year the percentage of people in England surviving at least one year from their initial cancer diagnosis has risen from 69.3 to 70.2. However, this is still well behind comparable international rates – in Sweden, for example, one-year cancer survival is around 82%.

John said,

“I am pleased to see a continued improvement in one-year cancer survival rates in England. However, it is slow progress, and we are still not close to meeting the best international survival rates, including those in Europe.[1] Much more needs to be done to close the gap. It remains a national disgrace that one in five cancers are first diagnosed as late as A&E.”

“Early diagnosis is vital to save lives, which is why the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Cancer (APPGC) has campaigned hard to ensure that one-year survival statistics are used by NHS England to drive improvements. The best way of improving our one-year figures is to improve initiatives encouraging earlier diagnosis at Primary Care level. Improving early diagnosis has the potential not just to improve survival rates, but also to improve patient experience and help limit the long-term effects of cancer and its treatments.”

“It is essential that the Government and NHS England continue to hold Clinical Commissioning Groups to account on their one-year figures so that we see a step change in survival rates, and catch up with the best international cancer outcomes – this would save tens of thousands of lives a year in this country.”

Notes to Editors:

• John is Chairman of the APPGC, which aims to keep cancer on the political agenda, monitors implementation of government initiatives, and ensures policy making is evidence-based and patient-centred.

• In John’s constituency, the percentage of people in the Basildon and Brentwood CCG reaching at least the one-year survival point has risen from 68.6% last year to 69%.

• Since their 2009 Inquiry into Cancer Inequalities, the APPGC has campaigned to ensure that CCGs are held to account for improving one year cancer survival rates, as a means of improving early diagnosis. In 2014, the Group secured the inclusion of an indicator on one year cancer survival rates in the Delivery Dashboard of the CCG Assurance Framework.

• This Framework is due to be superseded by a new Local Health Improvement and Assessment Framework in April 2016, which also includes an indicator on one-year survival.