HL Deb 14 May 1998 vol 589 cc129-30WA
Lord Morris of Manchester

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is the average time gap between diagnosis of cancer and hospital admission where an operation or other radical therapy is called for in cases of:

  1. (a) breast cancer;
  2. (b) lung cancer;
  3. (c) cervical cancer;
  4. (d) prostate cancer;
  5. (e) cancer of the bowel; and
  6. (f) cancer of the liver;
in the area of each health authority. [HL1792]

The Minister of State, Department of Health (Baroness Jay of Paddington)

Patients with cancer are placed on a waiting list only if the clinician responsible for their care decides that the patient's condition is stable and immediate treatment is not required. We have already set the target in England that everyone with suspected cancer will be able to see a specialist within two weeks of his or her general practitioner deciding he or she needs to be seen urgently and requesting an appointment. We have guaranteed these arrangements for everyone with suspected breast cancer by April 1999 and for all other cases of suspected cancer by 2000. Our next aim is to speed up access to treatment. Information on current waiting times for cancer treatment is not available centrally but retrospective data show that around half of all United Kingdom patients with cancer are admitted within 14 days of being placed on a waiting list. We plan to improve on this. Last summer we made an extra £10 million available for breast cancer care in England, and the Budget provided a further £10 million for colorectal cancer in 1998–99. We have also established an audit of the various stages between a patient seeing his or her GP and starting treatment to determine how long patients wait and the reasons for any delays. The results will enable us to identify what needs to be done to deliver our manifesto around waiting times for cancer treatment, especially breast cancer.