 It’s unacceptable that there are CCGs in England that diagnose less than 1 in 3 patients at an early stage |
| Mark Flannagan | New figures released by the charity Beating Bowel Cancer show that most bowel cancer patients are still diagnosed too late.
They emphasize the current huge variation within the NHS across England in terms of early diagnosis of bowel cancer- with the best performing Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) diagnosing 63% of patients early, compared with only 30% in the worst. The figures show that 3,200 lives could be saved if every NHS region in England performed as well as the best at diagnosing bowel cancer early (stages 1 and 2).
Chief Executive of Beating Bowel Cancer, Mark Flannagan, said:
“It’s unacceptable that there are CCGs in England that diagnose less than 1 in 3 patients at an early stage. If they all performed as well as the best, thousands of lives could be saved and millions of pounds could be freed up to be used for other bowel cancer treatments, which patients are frequently told are unaffordable.
“This will require further improvements in screening, renewed efforts to raise awareness of signs and symptoms, and investment to support improvements in GP performance in investigating and referring patients appropriately.”
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