27 January 2006
So far so good, but much left to do - that's the verdict of the Commons Public Accounts Committee on the NHS's ten-year plan to combat cancer.
In a report this week, the PAC noted 'significant progress' in improving cancer services and in getting money through to the front line at the plan's halfway stage.
But PAC chair Edward Leigh said: 'There are still stark inequalities in cancer death rates around the country and inequalities in the availability of drugs.'
He added that many cancer networks were not addressing these problems. 'It is hard to believe that nearly a third of the networks visited by the National Audit Office had no comprehensive plans for providing cancer services,' he said.
PFjan2006
