Revealed: Postcode lottery of London's cancer care with worst patient experiences in deprived parts of capital

Patients' experiences of cancer care were worse in some parts of London.
PA
Ross Lydall @RossLydall20 November 2017

A postcode lottery in the care received by London cancer patients was revealed today — with the worst experiences in the capital’s most deprived areas.

A report by cancer support charity Macmillan also found that black and ethnic minority Londoners were less satisfied than white Londoners with the way they were treated by the wider health system.

The charity’s annual patient satisfaction survey found the experience of Londoners with cancer was “good” but below the national average.

Today’s report, Mind The Gap: Cancer Inequalities In London, looks in greater detail at the findings and exposes a further disparity in the experiences of those living in more deprived areas and among non-white Londoners.

The problem is thought to be greatest in deprived parts of Enfield, Haringey, Tower Hamlets and Barking and Dagenham.

London hospitals offer some of the most advanced cancer treatments in the country but the concerns of patients often focus on post-surgery care and interaction with health and social care professionals, from the way they were spoken to to the amount of time they waited in clinics.

Macmillan is addressing the problem by launching the London Cancer Community, a support network of cancer survivors, at City Hall on Wednesday.

About 33,000 people are diagnosed with cancer in London each year, with 14,000 cancer deaths a year in the capital.

Ed Tallis, from Macmillan in London, said: “We know that an individual’s experience of cancer care is as important as the outcome of the treatment. We know that being given clear information, being treated with respect, feeling supported and well cared for, makes an enormous difference.”

Lizzy Crisp, who was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer in 2009, said: “In treating my cancer the doctors did their part fabulously, it was afterwards that I felt unprepared. It was then that I really needed follow-up support which just wasn’t offered to me or easy to find.

“I hadn’t expected the ‘survivor guilt’, or the huge loss of confidence I suffered — I felt quite lost. I since found out a lot of other people have experienced this too.”

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