'Postcode lottery' for East Lancashire people with lung cancer (From Lancashire Telegraph)

'Postcode lottery' for East Lancashire people with lung cancer

5:30pm Sunday 3rd May 2009

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LUNG cancer patients across Lancashire are missing out in a “postcode lottery” which means North London patients are more than four times as likely to receive surgery than those in East Lancashire.

Just seven per cent of people diagnosed with lung cancer in East Lancashire have operations to remove their tumours.

In North London it is 30 per cent, while in Mid Trent it is 20 per cent and in Surrey it is 18 per cent.

Across Lancashire and Cumbria as a whole, just three per cent of those diagnosed have an operation according to data from the NHS Information Centre.

Cancer charities said differences in treatment across the UK were “incredibly disappointing”, and advised patients refused surgery to seek a second opinion.

They are calling for a level playfield for treatment which would be signified by a similar percentage of people receiving operations in each NHS area.

Local health bosses said 289 people were diagnosed with lung cancer in the past 12 months, and 21 of those had undergone surgery. The rest had received drugs or palliative care, or had simply been monitored.

NHS East Lancashire, the primary care trust which funds operations, said it was working hard to help more people survive cancer.

A spokesman said: “We are very keen to do everything we can, as well as we can, for th is area, and deliver on cancer treatment, early detection and early referral to hospital.

“Surgery works best the earlier it is carried out, so it is vital that people come to us as soon as possible.

“We now have an early symptoms cancer manager, who works with patients and volunteers to get the information out about what to look for, ensuring it gets to those people who are hardest to reach, particularly those who do not speak English.

“One of the most important factors is reducing incidence of the disease in the first place by supporting people to give up smoking, and we have made enormous invfestments in that over the past few years.”

Dame Gill Oliver, of the UK Lung Cancer Coalition representing charities and cancer experts, said: “It is incredibly disappointing that lung cancer patients are not getting active treatment. "The figures are improving but some trusts are letting patients down.

“With the NHS mantra of choice, patients should vote with their feet, looking for hospitals with multi-disciplinary teams and seeking a second opinion.”

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