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Cancer and Health Policy: The Postcode Lottery of Care
Author(s) -
Bungay Hilary
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
social policy and administration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.972
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1467-9515
pISSN - 0144-5596
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9515.2005.00423.x
Subject(s) - lottery , cancer , government (linguistics) , health care , medicine , quality (philosophy) , cancer treatment , business , family medicine , economic growth , economics , linguistics , philosophy , epistemology , microeconomics
Cancer is a major cause of death and ill health, accounting for roughly one in four deaths in the UK. Concern with cancer services was expressed in the 1990s when it was reported that the quality of cancer care was patchy and variable, and clinical outcomes varied in different parts of the country. The Calman‐Hine Report (1995) produced specific recommendations for the reorganizing and reconfiguring of cancer services, but although the Conservative government, which commissioned the report, endorsed its suggestions no additional funding was provided to implement the proposed changes, and consequently there remained variations in provision across geographical areas and between patients with different cancer types. However, since 1997 the Labour government has targeted cancer, appointing a Cancer Tsar, announcing a package of measures to “fight the war against cancer”, including the publication of a National Cancer Plan (2000 ) and with Tony Blair pledging to end the postcode lottery for cancer treatment. This paper explores the concept of the “postcode lottery of cancer care”, why it exists and whether measures taken since the Calman‐Hine Report and the Cancer Plan will address it.