This week I found an article on the site of the BBC. The article talks about an audit led by the National Health Service information centre (NHS) and Specialist Bowel Cancer Surgeons. The report considers about 41,000 cases from 2006 to 2008.
The audit makes different conclusions: first of all there was improvement: post-surgery death rates are shrinking remarkably.
But the audit also revealed some problems. The first problem: only half of the patients obtain the support of specialist nurses that all cancer patients should receive. Secondly, a quarter of the patients has no access to specialist scans to check the progress of their disease. And thirdly more cases should be reviewed by a range of experts.
The NHS and the Specialist Bowel Cancer Surgeons draw some conclusions: they are pleased with the progressions, but it’s still necessary to improve some standards of care so it will be possible to save more lives in the future.
I recently lost someone who had cancer so this is a subject close to my heart. I’m glad to hear the death rates after surgery are shrinking because that means less families will have to bear the loss of someone they love. But I think it’s shocking that a quarter of all cancer patients in England don’t have access to specialist scans and only half of the patients obtain specialist support. But as the spokesman of NHS said: the report reveals which standards should be improved, and if we focus now on these issues that will be good for the future.
The article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8331934.stm
Well said, Julie! It's important that there has to be done something about these problems because this concerns people's lives! Like you said, these patients deserve the support and the information they need. Thanks to this audit, they know now what can be improved.
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