Call to give UK cancer patients legal right to be treated within two months | Cancer

Cancer patients should have the legal right to be treated within two months, even if it means the NHS has to pay for them to be treated privately or abroad, international experts say.

Writing in the Lancet Oncology, they say cancer patients should have a legally enforceable right to be treated within 62 days of an urgent referral from a GP.

This would bring the UK closer to Denmark, where cancer patients already have a legal right to prompt treatment.

International research shows that every four weeks of delay in cancer treatment increases the risk of death by up to 10%. But the NHS has failed to meet its target of 85% of cancer patients starting treatment within 62 days since December 2015.

The authors argue that without legal rights in the UK, the government’s next national cancer plan risks being just a paper exercise that will fail to lift the UK from the bottom of the cancer survival league tables.

“The concern is that the [cancer plan] This will be a consensual plan aimed at appeasing multiple stakeholders, rather than providing radical, responsible and independent leadership,” the Lancet paper concludes.

Statutory rights to prompt treatment would reduce waiting lists and improve survival rates, experts say. Eduardo Pisani, co-author of the paper and chief executive of All.Can, a global non-profit organization that aims to improve the effectiveness of cancer care, said: “International evidence shows that strong cancer plans, supported by legal rights, ensure patients have guaranteed access to timely, high-quality care. This protection promotes early treatment, reduces inequalities and ultimately improves health outcomes.”

Since 1999, a cancer patient in Denmark has the right to start treatment within 28 days of referral and within a maximum of 14 days after consenting to treatment. Five-year survival rates for some cancers are among the best in Europe, with minimal waiting lists.

Mark Lawler, professor of digital health at Queen’s University Belfast, chair of the International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership and co-lead author of the paper, said introducing legal rights for cancer patients as in Denmark would mean that “if cancer patients in the UK cannot be treated in their own hospital within 62 days, the NHS would have to pay to treat them in another NHS hospital, privately or in another country”.

“This fundamental contract between patients and the NHS must be made explicit, with patients able to seek redress if breached. »

In addition to the right to be treated within two months, patients should have the legal right to be assigned a designated cancer professional to oversee their care, 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 reveal their previous cancer diagnosis. Insurers and mortgage lenders would be prohibited from requesting or accessing this information, ensuring that patients are not discriminated against and charged more because of their prior diagnosis.

Cary Adams, chief executive of the Union for International Cancer Control, said: “Cancer plans that recognize the rights of all people living with cancer to receive the treatment they need when they need it are essential in every country. Time and time again, we see governments struggling to tackle cancer in their country without a strong, well-funded plan, leading to unnecessary loss of life and trauma to their families.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “This Government is committed to transforming cancer care after years of neglect.

“We are determined to ensure patients receive a diagnosis in a timely manner – which is why we introduced Jess’ Rule, requiring GPs to review cases where symptoms worsen or no diagnosis emerges after three appointments.

“We are also reducing waiting times for cancer care, diagnosing or ruling out 135,000 more cancer cases this year, building more community diagnostic centers, 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.”