'100,000 LIVES AT RISK' IN CANCER CARE LOTTERY

Campaigners warn patients are missing out on best treatment because of postcode

- Hanna Geissler

UP to 100,000 cancer patients' lives could be endangered by being asked to travel too far for crucial tests and treatment.

Macmillan Cancer Support says a postcode lottery means that sufferers are missing out on the best care locally potentially impacting their survival chances.

Its lead medical adviser Dr Anthony Cunliffe warned: "The reality is that for too many people with cancer it has begun to feel like a game of chance - a 'flip of a coin' and a need to be 'in the right place, at the right time' - when it comes to getting the treatment and care they need." Macmillan's survey of 2,000 adults with cancer found 3% had turned down a test or treatment because of the travel time and 4% had considered doing so.

Some 3.4 million people are living with cancer in the UK, meaning in the worst-case scenario an estimated 100,000 may have missed out on care due to travel concerns across the country.

Almost one in three people had been asked to journey for more than an hour to have a test or scan and 29% for treatment. Top concerns about distance included the cost of transport or accommodation, additional worry, stress or anxiety, loss of income while taking time off work, and caring roles.

Meanwhile, one in 20 people chose to travel to a hospital more than an hour away as it had a shorter waiting time and 8% did so for better treatment options. The survey also highlighted inequalities in access to both well-established and cutting-edge treatments.

Exhaustion

Some 4% of those surveyed said they found out from family or friends about other tests or treatments only offered in another part of the UK. And 3% had repeatedly requested a test or treatment that was not available locally.

One in six (16%) of those polled said they experienced additional worry, stress and anxiety as a result of local variation in treatment, and one in eight (12%) experienced exhaustion or worsened fatigue.