Cancer patients face 'postcode lottery'
12 August 2008
Over 1,300 cancer patients have been left to die in the last 20 months because they were not deemed exceptional enough to receive cancer treatment on the NHS, according to a report by the Rare Cancers Forum.
Taking Exception reveals the postcode lottery facing cancer patients in England.
For example, 96 per cent of patients living in the Mid Essex PCT area had their requests approved, while every single patient in the South West Essex PCT area had their request rejected.
The findings were exposed by Freedom of Information Act requests sent by the group to each of England’s 152 PCTs.
neil.durham@haymarket.com
RCF report
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