Cancer Patients should have a legal right to treatment for two months, even if it means the NHS must pay for their treatment privately or abroad, international experts say.
Writing in the Lancet Oncology, they argue that cancer patients should have a legally enforceable right to treatment within 62 days of an urgent referral from a GP.
This will bring the UK into line with Denmarkwhere cancer patients already have a legal right to timely treatment.
International research shows that every four weeks there is a delay in cancer treatment increases the risk of death by up to 10%. But the NHS has missed its target: since December 2015, 85% of cancer patients started treatment within 62 days.
The authors argue that without legal rights in the UK, the government's upcoming national cancer plan risks being a paper exercise that will fail to get the UK out of bottom of cancer survival ranking table.
“The concern is that [cancer plan] “This will be a consensus plan aimed at appeasing multiple stakeholders rather than providing radical, accountable and independent leadership,” the Lancet article concludes.
Experts say legal rights to timely treatment will shorten waiting lists and improve survival rates. Eduardo Pisani, co-author of the paper and executive director of All.Can, a global non-profit organization dedicated to improving cancer treatment, said: “International evidence shows that strong cancer control plans, backed by legal rights, provide patients with guaranteed access to timely, high-quality care. These protections lead to earlier treatment, reduced inequalities and ultimately improved health outcomes.”
Since 1999, a cancer patient in Denmark has the right to start treatment within 28 days of referral and a maximum of 14 days of consent to treatment. Five-year survival rates for some types of cancer are among the best in the world. Europewith minimal waiting lists.
Mark Lawler, professor of digital health at Queen's University Belfast, chair of the International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership and one of the paper's lead authors, said introducing legal rights for cancer patients like Denmark would mean that “if UK cancer patients cannot be treated in their own hospital within 62 days, National Health Service will have to pay for their treatment at another NHS hospital, privately or in another country.”
“This fundamental contract between patients and the NHS must be clear, and patients must be able to seek legal redress for any breaches.”
In addition to the right to treatment for two months, patients should have the legal right to have their assigned oncologist monitor their treatment, and after successful treatment, they should have the legal right to be forgotten. The law, already in force in nine European countries, means that five years after successful treatment, patients will not have to disclose their previous cancer diagnosis. Insurers and mortgage providers will be prohibited from requesting or accessing this information, ensuring patients are not discriminated against or charged higher amounts because of their previous diagnosis.
Carey Adams, executive director of the Union for International Cancer Control, said: “Cancer plans that recognize the rights of all people living with cancer to get the treatment they need, when they need it, are essential in every country. Time and time again we see governments struggling to respond to cancer in their country without a strong, well-funded plan, resulting in unnecessary loss of life and trauma for families.”
Department Health A Social Care spokesman said: “This Government is committed to transforming cancer care after years of neglect.
“We are committed to ensuring patients are diagnosed in a timely manner – that is why we have introduced Jess's rulerequiring GPs to reconsider cases where symptoms worsen or a diagnosis is not made after three visits.
“We are also reducing waiting times for cancer care, diagnosing or ruling out a further 135,000 cancers this year, building more community diagnostic centres, offering evening and weekend appointments and spending £70 million on new radiotherapy machines to give patients faster access to the tests, checks and scans they need.”
