article_snippet: Serious failings in NHS care for cancer patients have been laid bare by three separate reports.
article_snippet: Serious failings in NHS care for cancer patients reveal waiting times for scans are at Serious failings in NHS care for cancer patients highest in seven years, there is an 'unacceptable' postcode lottery in treatment and how Britain spends far less on new drugs than elsewhere in the Western world.
article_snippet: Meanwhile GPs in the South of England have complained that NHS managers are delaying patients from having cancer tests to meet waiting times targets.
article_snippet: As MPs warned that cancer care on NHS NHS had been 'diluted' and was 'going backwards', a string of reports revealed how: .
article_snippet: There is 'unacceptable' and 'unexplained' variation in cancer detection and treatment across England – particularly for the elderly.
article_snippet: Labour MP Margaret Hodge, who is chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, said that despite the increasing numbers being diagnosed with cancer, the money being ploughed into the services had declined .
article_snippet: Britain has one of the worst cancer survival rates in Europe and this has partly been blamed on late diagnosis as well as lack of availability of effective treatments.
article_snippet: A report by the Public Accounts Committee warned of a postcode lottery in cancer detection and treatment across England.
article_snippet: MPs were particularly concerned about the care for older patients –
article_snippet: the group most at risk of cancer – who are often denied chemotherapy or surgery as they are thought to be too frail.
article_snippet: Andy Burnham, Labour's health spokesman, said: 'Cancer care has gone backwards and patients are missing out on the treatment patients
article_snippet: Labour MP Margaret Hodge, who is chairman of the committee, said that despite the increasing numbers being diagnosed with cancer, the money being ploughed into the services had declined. '
article_snippet: Focus on cancer has also been diluted at a local level,' cancer said, adding: 'It is unacceptable that NHS England does not understand the reasons why access to treatment and survival rates are considerably poorer for older people.'
article_snippet: Juliet Bouverie, of Macmillan Cancer Support, said: 'Cancer care in NHS England is in urgent need of improvement.'
article_snippet: Sarah Woolnough, of Cancer Research UK, said: 'It is depressing that too many patients are waiting longer than too many patients should.'
article_snippet: Andy Burnham, Labour's health spokesman, said: 'Cancer care has gone backwards and patients are missing out on the treatment patients need.
article_snippet: This slump in cancer standards is a scandal that needs to be stopped.'
article_snippet: This slump in cancer standards comes as GPs in the South of NHS England have accused hospital managers of downgrading patients' cancer risk to meet waiting time targets.
article_snippet: A letter obtained by Pulse magazine reveals how NHS officials have written to hospitals in Dorset and Hampshire warning NHS officials that the practice is 'inappropriate' and 'against patients' best interests'.
highlights_snippet: Reports found 'unacceptable' variation in cancer detection across England .
  