Lung cancer care 'inadequate'

Lung cancer is a major killer

Key areas of lung cancer care are still "woefully inadequate", a report by leading lung cancer experts says.

The UK Lung Cancer Care Coalition, an umbrella group composed of doctors, charities and private health firms, says UK care lags behind Europe.

It says too few patients are receiving treatment, such as chemotherapy or surgery, because of staff shortages.

The government says it already recognises that more needs to be done to improve lung cancer services.

Our review shows there are still huge variations and vast inequalities in care across the country Dame Gill Oliver, of UK Lung Cancer Care

Lung cancer kills about 34,000 people a year - more than breast, prostate, bladder and leukaemia versions of the disease combined.

Despite being labelled a "smoker's disease", one in eight people with lung cancer have never smoked.

The coalition draws on data from this year's official national audit as well as feedback from leading doctors.

The report says in some parts of the UK, as few as 10% of patients are receiving any form of treatment and nationally the figure is only 51%.

The coalition is calling for a target of 70% - recognising that for some patients further treatment is not advisable because the cancer has already spread too far.

It estimates this would save an extra 3,000 lives a year.

One of the major problems is a lack of access to surgeons - there are only 44 full-time positions for more than 240 separate teams.

The shortfall means that some patients who would be eligible for treatment are being turned down, the report adds.

'Vast inequalities'

Dame Gill Oliver , chairman of the coalition, says: "We are still letting lung cancer patients down.

"Our review shows there are still huge variations and vast inequalities in care across the country.

"We believe that whatever the cause of their disease patients deserve the best care and support."

Five-year lung cancer survival rates are still below 9% in the UK, compared with 12.3% across Europe on average.

But the coalition believes survival rates can be doubled by 2020 by making the disease a priority.

It says more money needs to be invested in diagnostic equipment and the workforce as well as encouraging GPs to refer at-risk patients for tests at an earlier stage.

A Department of Health spokesman said: "We know there is more to do on lung cancer.

"That is why we recently re-convened the Lung Cancer and Mesothelioma Advisory Group to look at many of the issues raised in this review, including access to surgery."