16th February 2010

Alan Keen MP supports

Target Cancer campaign at voteNHS.com

Labour have launched voteNHS.com to outline Labour’s health campaign.

Labour’s “Target Cancer” campaign aims to save up to 10,000 lives by backing a pledge to create a new NHS guarantee of cancer diagnosis within one week of GP referral, allowing patients to be tested and told their results in just seven days.

Andy Burnham and Alan Keen MP have challenged the Conservatives to reverse their policy of scrapping all NHS targets and patient guarantees, and to match Labour’s one-week cancer diagnosis guarantee.

Alan Keen MP said:

“I support giving patients guarantees, not gambles.  People in Feltham and Heston face a big choice on the NHS at the General Election. Between our NHS going forward with Labour, with guarantees for patients backed up by law.

“Or our NHS going backwards with Tory gambles, that could leave patients with fewer rights and worse treatment”.

Andy Burnham MP, Labour’s Health Secretary said:

“Some things are too important to be left to chance, and cancer is one of them. It's no exaggeration to say that with this disease, every day counts and cancer diagnosis should not be left to a local lottery.

“That’s why I am proud to say that with Labour, every NHS patient will have guaranteed access to diagnostic tests for cancer and crucially, their results, within just one week of seeing their doctor. If we do this, we know up to 10,000 lives a year could be saved.

“I am challenging Andrew Lansley and the Tories to drop their dogmatic opposition to our two-week cancer pledge, and admit that the quicker we can diagnose cancer, and ensure the same cancer guarantees for all NHS patients, the quicker we can treat it and the more lives we can save.

“And today I’m calling on everyone who agrees with me on this to sign up to my Target Cancer campaign at voteNHS.com.”

1. To visit voteNHS.com click here.

3. Gordon Brown announced at Labour Party Conference in 2009 that Labour would create a new right for patients to have diagnostic tests carried out, completed and with results within one week of seeing their GP.

4. The Conservatives say they will scrap all process targets in the NHS – including the existing guarantees that you will see a cancer specialist within two weeks of GP referral, that you will wait no more than 18 weeks for NHS treatment, and that you will wait no more than four hours in A&E before being admitted or discharged.

“We will scrap all of the politically-motivated process targets that stop health professionals doing their jobs properly”
Conservative Party, Draft health manifesto, 4 January 2010, p. 7

"Top-down command and control must go.
"Let us be absolutely clear.
"We will abolish Labour’s political targets...
"We will focus on results.
"One year and five year cancer survival rates at least as good as any in Europe. Not just a two-week referral to a cancer specialist."

Andrew Lansley, speech to Conservative Party Conference, 5 October 2009

Sarah Montague: So a target that they are in the process of introducing which is that by the end of this year no-one will be waiting longer than 18 weeks from GP referral to hospital treatment, you’d get rid of that?
David Cameron: We think these process targets are wrong.
BBC Radio 4, Today, 3 January 2008

“We will scrap all centrally-imposed targets relating to clinical processes, and replace them with a new focus on outcomes.”
Conservative Party, “The patient will see you now, doctor: How the next Conservative Government will create an NHS personal to all”, 29 September 2007, p. 4

4. The Conservatives have admitted that abolishing waiting time targets, and relying instead on patient choice and market forces, could lead to longer waiting times.

The second point is: 'You will have a choice of who provides your treatment. You will be able to choose the best hospital or GP practice for your treatment and which doctor will be responsible for your care.'
Party sources admit there will be a trade-off for patients on this pledge: if a particular doctor is very popular, he will accrue larger waiting lists meaning a greater delay in seeing him.
The Tories say patients will have to weigh up whether it is worth waiting longer to see the person that they want.
Daily Mail, 5 October 2009