It has emerged today that the level of treatment and care cancer patients receive, is down to the total randomness of where they happen to live. The Tories have said that some primary care trusts
are spending double the amount on drug treatment in comparison to less well funded areas, in the so-called “post-code lottery”.
New figures released from the Freedom of Information Act, reveal that a Primary Care Trust in England had an average spend on each patient of £390.17, reports shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley.
However, on closer examination, it is clear there are huge discrepencies within regions. For example, in Mid Essex, a patient can expect up to £594.55 being spent on them, while in stark contrast, Barnsley
patients could look forward to no more than £150.51 to secure their treatment and recovery.
These figures are not isolated extremes on opposite ends of the spectrum, as the spending range varies from £221.28 in South Tyneside to £506.82 in Norfolk.
In addition, the findings show there are huge contrasts across regions in referfence to the amount spent on new and controversial expensive cancer drugs.
In the West Midlands, only £46 per 100 chemotherapy patients taking Avastin was spent, in comparison to a whopping £8,732 in London and in general an average of £1,748 throughot England.
Figures varied widely also, when it came to the average spend on the drug, Herceptin. In the East of England spending per 100 chemotherapy patients came in at £31,717 compared to £101,597 in the North East and £68,753 as the English average.
Lansley commented on the fact that it was more than obvious that finanial restrictions were seriously hindering the treatment of patients in certain areas.
“It is clear that in different parts of the country radically different approaches are being taken on whether patients should be given access to these new drugs,” he said.
“These huge variations are not justified by the clinical evidence, which worryingly means that they must therefore be being dictated by financial considerations.
“Last year cancer drug spending stalled even as patients went without the latest medicines or were made to pay for them. This is a year when NHS budgets provided by taxpayers rose by 9%. Where has all the money gone?”
