Cancer help times rise

The true quality of cancer care was called into question today after a study showed huge rises in waiting times.

They find that almost three-quarters of patients who need urgent radiotherapy treatment are waiting weeks longer than the recommended safe maximum.

Independent research involving 2,500 sets of patient records suggests average waiting times for treatment have risen by two weeks.

The findings by the Royal College of Radiologists (RCR) cast serious doubt on official claims that waits have fallen to an all-time low. The Department of Health insists standards of cancer care are getting better. Health chiefs blame the new waits on dramatic improvements in the quality of treatment offered, which they say takes longer to administer.

The RCR survey focuses on waiting times for radiotherapy, one of the most common cancer treatments. About half of all patients with cancer undergo the X-ray treatment, which is designed to kill cancer cells.

The RCR audit was carried out last autumn and followed the exact format of the organisation's previous study in 1998 in three vital areas.

?The majority of patients needing "radical" or life-saving radiotherapy wait more than the recommended maximum of four weeks. A total of 72 per cent of these patients were not seen within the fourweek period, compared to just 32 per cent in 1998.

? A total of 60 per cent of patients needing palliative treatment for non-curable cancers - designed to slow the progress of the disease and ease pain - also waited longer than the recommended maximum, a dramatic increase compared to 1998, when the figure was just 25 per cent.

? The situation is equally grim for patients needing radiotherapy after undergoing surgery, with 62 per cent now waiting too long, compared to 39 per cent in 1998.

Although the Government's "cancer czar", Professor Mike Richards, was made aware of the results of the RCR audit several weeks ago, the study has yet to be published. Today the expert who put together the figures for the RCR, Christopher Squire, described the findings as "deeply embarrassing".

He accused health chiefs of ignoring warnings about delays, saying: "The government has ignored warnings that they are not doing enough, and now they are embarrassed. They would much rather that these figures did not come out."

The RCR study is the most comprehensive of its kind. For one week, every cancer clinic in the country was asked to record its patients' treatment times. Ironically, the delays are a consequence of efforts to improve the quality of treatment, with the introduction of sophisticated new machines that can target cancer cells.

The units, known as linear accelerators, can attack cancer cells from every angle and have a much higher success rate.

But they take far longer to set up for patient use. They must be installed and programmed in tailor-made bunkers - a process that can take up to 18 months.

Mr Squire said: "This technology is wonderful but it is not enough. Whereas in other fields of medicine waiting lists are disappearing, in this field, the situation is simply getting worse. Yet the Government doesn't even specifically monitor radiotherapy waiting times."

Improving cancer care is one of the Department of Health's top priorities. Patients are up to 30 per cent less likely to survive some cancers than on the Continent - with survival rates for prostate, breast and colon cancers a particular source of concern. In the past three years, ?570million has been ploughed into cancer services.

Professor Mike Richards said everything possible was being done to reduce waiting times for radiotherapy. He said: "The increase in waiting times is related to a number of factors, including the improvements we are making, which mean that more patients than ever before are being referred for radiotherapy."