Welsh lung cancer care inequalities 'must be tackled'

A group of cancer experts is calling for "unacceptable" variations in access to care people receive for lung cancer in Wales to be tackled.

The UK Lung Cancer Coalition said some parts of the country are far more likely than others to provide access to specialist nurses and surgery.

Its report points to the fact Wales has the second to worst lung cancer five-year survival rate in Europe.

The Welsh government said survival rates were improving.

The group behind the first "Ten Years On" report - which tracks how far lung cancer outcomes and services have progressed over the last decade - is made up of charities, doctors and healthcare companies.

It said lung cancer is more fatal than it should be.

In some parts of Wales fewer than two in ten men survive the disease, while in other parts four in ten live for at least a year after diagnosis.

'Lag behind'

The report said that variation could end through better access to surgery and specialist nurses.

"While the latest figures for Wales show that one-year lung cancer survival rates have increased by 10% over the last decade, survival rates compare poorly with other major cancers and seriously lag behind our European counterparts," said Dr Ian Lewis, director for research and policy at Tenovus Cancer Care and a member of the UK Lung Cancer Coalition (UKLCC).

"Put simply, ten years on we are not where we should be."

The report calls for an increase in the number of lung cancer specialist nurses, an emphasis on the benefits of a national lung cancer screening programme and patient access to the latest molecular diagnostic tests.

It also said the removal of unfair inconsistencies in the current Individual Patient Funding Request (IPFR) process between health boards - to ensure patients in Wales receive the most innovative and cost-effective medicines - is also "imperative".

Lung cancer remains the biggest cancer killer in Wales; it kills nearly 2,000 people each year, greater than the next two major cancers (bowel and breast cancer) combined.

Report findings

• Five-year survival rates for breast cancer in Wales are up to ten times higher than lung cancer survival rates in Wales

• Wales has the second worst lung cancer five-year survival rate in Europe (ranked 28th out of 29th European countries)

• While the number of men diagnosed with lung cancer in Wales has decreased, the number of female lung cancer patients has increased by more than a third during the last decade

One consultant at Swansea's Morriston Hospital said more investment in diagnostic tests could also improve survival rates.

"I think we can do better," said Dr Emrys Evans, a consultant respiratory physician.

Dr Emrys Evans wants "greater access to more radical therapies for patients"

"I think we have to prove we're working efficiently within the systems we have already.

"But I think it's a reasonable argument that we should have greater access to diagnostic techniques and then when we have made the diagnosis that we have greater access to more radical therapies for patients and newer therapies for patients that colleagues in England can have access to more readily than we can in Wales."

The Welsh government said it was determined to improve outcomes for people with lung cancer.

"We are pleased this report recognises the progress Wales is making in improving survival rates and better access to specialist nurses," a spokesman said.

"The challenges it sets out are well-known and we are already delivering on its recommendations as a priority through the cancer implementation group.

"We have improved data collection and reporting on lung cancer, established a programme to optimise outcomes from lung surgery, and are working with clinicians to improve treatment for people with lung cancer."