Work to begin on new NHS cancer strategy
pharmafile | January 22, 2007 | News story | |Â Â Â
The government is to work with doctors, nurses, cancer charities and others to draw up a new Cancer Reform Strategy to improve cancer services on the NHS.
2006 saw unprecedented controversy and media coverage of NHS cancer services, as patients have fought to gain access to new cancer drugs denied them by their local PCTs.
The government says its latest strategy will recognise the new challenges and opportunities in cancer, such as rising incidence, advances in medical technologies, drugs and higher expectations among the public.
But despite protestations from PCTs about the difficulties of funding the new, high-cost cancer drugs, the review will be focused on reform rather than spending commitments.
The initiative will also focus on allowing patients more choice, strengthening commissioning, and making the new NHS levers – i.e. practice-based commissioning and payments by results – work for cancer.
Announcing the plan, health secretary Patricia Hewitt said: "Having developed the foundations of a world-class cancer service, we have to make it self-sustaining. However, this cannot be based on the top-down approach of the past."
As a result, cancer specialists, GPs, trusts and PCTs will need to build on their local cancer networks to create flexible and innovative local services that respond to patients' needs.
Crucially, Hewitt has pledged the new strategy will see every part of the NHS use established best-practice in cancer care to see that every patient gets the best care there is – suggesting action will be taken to enforce NICE guidance more uniformly across England and Wales.
The government's cancer czar Mike Richards will co-ordinate the review, and will shortly set out the scope of the work.
