Tory NHS fail: they want to scrap most cancer treatment targets
Steve Barclay: if there is a problem with cancer in the English NHS, he is the tumour that needs to be removed.
How will Rishi Sunak be able to complain about the Welsh NHS now?
And is this just a shabby bid to boost private cancer treatments?
The Tory government reckons it is being advised by clinicians and cancer charities to scrap six out of nine treatment targets – but two such charities have objected to the plan, just in the BBC’s article announcing it!
The head of the Radiotherapy UK charity said she is “deeply worried”.
Pat Price, who is also an oncologist and visiting professor at Imperial College London, said… “the clear and simple truth is that we are not investing enough in cancer treatment capacity”.
Naser Turabi, Cancer Research UK’s director of evidence and implementation, said… “Despite the best efforts of NHS staff, it’s incredibly worrying that cancer waiting times in England are once again amongst the worst on record.”
He blamed the missed targets on “years of underinvestment” by the government and called for more cancer staff and a clear strategy.
“Without bold action, more people will miss out on lifesaving services,” he said.
We have seen recently that restrictions on NHS services – such as those that are likely to be imposed if treatment targets are scrapped – tend to “nudge”* people into taking private treatment, even if they can’t afford it.
Personally, This Writer thinks Barclay is simply putting more patients between a rock and a hard place: what difference is there between waiting for help that may not arrive in time and putting up with a private ‘specialist’ dancing around you, waving his beads and rattles?
*Remember the Tory “nudge unit” that was attached to 10 Downing Street under David Cameron before it was privatised, and recommended ways of… shall we say “persuading”?… people to do things they would not consider in the normal scheme of things? Clearly, making it impossible for patients to get life-saving treatment in time is a way of “persuading” people to fork out extra cash for private treatment that they would not otherwise have considered and should not need.
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Well done fascist tories – another example of your callous and arrogant disregard for UK citizens’ health!! Remember the fascist tories don’t govern – rather they are in power to increase their bloated wealth and the bloated wealth of their multi national corporate bros!
So peasants we can all forget about seeking NHS treatment because it very soon won’t exist due to the deliberate cruel tactics and greed of the fascist tories! Instead we will have to try and find thousands of pounds in order to access private health consultants and they too won’t care about your health only how much money they can wring out of you!
“Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped.” [George Orwell, 1984]
Before the lame excuses of Covid and Strikes, my GP suspected Lung Cancer and I was seen within the 2 weeks but it took about 1 year until I what I knew all along was announced and I was clear….. it was still a worrying year thanks to a broken, defunded system courtesy of the Tories.