Top cancer specialist attacks NHS delays and survival rate

My Account
Logout

Create an Evening Standard Account

Use your social network

Save time by using your existing account to sign in to Evening Standard

We'll never share your information or post anything to your account without your permission

Welcome! Sign in here

Use your social network

Save time by using your existing account to sign in to Evening Standard

We'll never share your information or post anything to your account without your permission

Forgot your password ?

Registration

* indicates fields that are mandatory

Email *

Password *

Confirm Password *

First name *

Surname *

Postcode *

Country *

Mobile phone number

Username *

Gender *

Year of birth *

When you sign up...

You will have access to all our online competitions, discounted offers and can post comments on our site.

You will also receive The Weekender newsletter sent every Thursday - it’s full of fantastic offers and ideas for the weekend. You can update your email preferences in your account page when you log in.

Other newsletters and emails

Homes & Property Newsletter - Yes I want to receive the weekly email with all the latest news on property in the capital

Occasionally we would also like to send you relevant emails detailing specific offers either from ourselves or carefully selected partners. If you would prefer not to receive these then please tick the appropriate boxes below. We will never pass on your details.

I do not want to receive additional offers and information from the Evening Standard

I do not want to receive additional offers and information sent by Evening Standard on behalf of carefully selected partners

Terms and Conditions

* I have read, understood and agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of Evening Standard

Registration

Mail Sent for Registration Confirmation.

A confirmation email has been sent. Please activate your account by clicking on the activation link sent in your mail box.

Professor Karol Sikora, Britain's most eminent cancer specialist, said patients face treatment delays and poor access to care. He also said there has been no significant improvement in survival rates over the last decade despite a tripling in funding for cancer care.

His comments in cancer journal Lancet Oncology raise doubts over the Government's strategy for tackling the disease.

Professor Sikora today warned of "a whole system fault within the NHS with serial delays, poor access and serious under-capacity".

The cancer expert and director of CancerPartnersUK, an organisation that works in partnership with the NHS and independent care providers, also blamed the "ridiculously poor performance" of the NHS computer system for adding "massively" to costs.

Professor Sikora's comments were published the same day as the results of the first major study into the impact of the NHS cancer plan introduced nine years ago. The key pledge of the scheme was to make England at least equal to countries with the best survival rates by next year.

The study, by experts including Michel Coleman from the Cancer Survival Group at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, revealed that one-year survival rates had improved but a postcode lottery still existed over patients' access to world-class treatment. It showed that patients in the South were more likely to live longer than those elsewhere in England.

National clinical director for cancer Mike Richards, the Government's cancer czar, today defended the NHS plan, saying that survival should not be the only measure of its success.

Writing in the same journal he added: "Any comprehensive strategy for cancer control should contain initiatives to prevent cancer and to improve early diagnosis, treatment and care."