Committee analyses cancer patient services since announcement of strategy for reform

The Committee of Public Accounts looked at the two groups’ performance in:

• delivering cancer services;
• improving information on activity, cost and outcomes of cancer services; and
• how to deliver cost-effective cancer services in the new NHS.

The NHS spent £6.3 billion on cancer services in 2008-09. Tackling cancer has been a priority for the Department since its ten year NHS Cancer Plan was published in 2000. In 2007 the Department published its five year Cancer Reform Strategy (the Strategy) to deliver improved patient outcomes.

Significant progress has been made by the NHS in delivering important aspects of cancer services, with falling mortality rates and consistent achievement of the cancer waiting times targets. However, early diagnosis does not happen often enough. And the gap in survival rates between England and the best European countries has not been closed.

There remain wide, unexplained variations in the performance of cancer services and in the types of treatment available across the country.

There are significant gaps in information about important aspects of cancer services, in particular information on:

• chemotherapy;
• follow-up treatment; and
• the stage that a patient's cancer has reached at the time of diagnosis.

The Department cannot yet measure the impact of the Strategy on key outcomes, such as survival rates, and does not know if cancer services are being commissioned cost-effectively, due to poor data on costs and because outcomes data is not sufficiently timely. The Department must ensure the collection of high quality, comprehensive and timely data.

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