Britain still fails on cancer care

Britain's poor record on cancer treatment and prevention will be laid bare in a major report on the state of the health service out tomorrow.

The study will show how the country still lags behind many others around the world on death rates for the most common cancers.

However, the report by the Healthcare Commission - the new watchdog for the sector - will add that Britain's record on cancer is improving faster than almost anywhere else in the world. The country is also doing well in reducing coronary heart disease, smoking and waiting lists.

The 150-page report, entitled The State Of Healthcare, compares health standards in Britain with those of other countries.

It will be published as Gordon Brown prepares to announce his spending plans for the next three years, with the Department of Health expected to be the big winner.

His statement on Monday is expected to promise an inflation-busting rise in health spending of 7.2 per cent a year to 2008.

The report will reflect the most recent figures from the World Health Organisation, which show that death rates in Britain for the most prevalent cancers - lung, bowel, breast and cervical - are still among the worst in the developed world.

Other figures show Britain ranks third worst out of 26 countries for rates of obesity, with a better record than only the USA and Mexico.

In 2001, 22 per cent of Britons were obese.

Britain also has the worst rate of

30 developed countries for deaths from influenza and pneumonia - almost five times the rate in Germany.

The State Of Healthcare report has been collected from a range of sources and looks at private, voluntary and NHS services. It will be published annually.

It will use indicators such as life expectancy, mortality rates and obesity rates, and include chapters on staying well in old age, learning from patients' experiences, and children in hospital.

Under the heading Auditing Clinical Quality, it will show there has been some improvement in the NHS, with deaths from coronary heart disease down from five years ago, cuts in waiting times for all operations, and success in reducing smoking. But the report will also give ammunition to critics of the Government's health policy.

Liberal Democrat health spokesman Paul Burstow said the focus needed to be on helping people to lead healthier lives.

"Unless more is done to tackle the cause of problems like obesity we will not solve them," he said.

"More people are living with these diseases and need on-going treatment from the NHS. This leads to a greater cost to the taxpayer and a poorer quality of life for sufferers.

"The Government needs to be doing more to tackle the cause of ill health rather than just the consequences."

The Healthcare Commission was set up in April to inspect health services, review performance and publish the results. It is made up of 14 commissioners and is chaired by Professor Sir Ian Kennedy, emeritus professor of health law, ethics and policy at University College London.

He chaired the inquiry that exposed high death rates in children's heart surgery at the Bristol Royal Infirmary in the Nineties.

Covering the NHS, private and voluntary sectors, the new body takes over from the Commission for Health Improvement and the Audit Commission.

A Healthcare Commission spokesman said: "The State Of Healthcare report is our first major one. It's a substantial and thoughtful report which reflects the high complexity of the healthcare system and the wide range of patients it serves."