Delays in diagnosis leading to more deaths from cancer

GREATER MANCHESTER HOSPITALS VOW TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE

-  HELENA VESTY

SOME of Greater Manchester's major hospitals have the highest numbers of deaths due to delayed cancer diagnosis and misdiagnosis in the UK.

There have been six deaths in the last three years among patients of the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust (NCA), which runs hospitals including Salford Royal Hospital, Fairfield General, Rochdale Infirmary and the Royal Oldham Hospital.

Last year, Cancer Research UK warned that the UK's progress in treating the disease is at risk of stalling due to slow and late diagnosis coupled with treatment delays. Last month, England's NHS ombudsman warned that cancer patients could be put at risk 'because of over-stretched health staff working in a system at  breaking point.