England continues to lag behind Europe in cancer survival, despite £6.7bn budget

Despite some improvement in cancer services in England in the past three years, survival is still 10% lower than the European average, with older and poorer patients faring worse than other groups, a report by the public spending watchdog has said.1

The National Audit Office said that there was still variable access to cancer services around the country, which if tackled could improve overall survival. For example, it said that there would be nearly 20 000 fewer deaths from cancer a year if death rates in all socioeconomic groups were the same as that in the least deprived.

The audit office last looked at cancer services in 2010 and was asked by the House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts last year to …