One of the most pernicious symptoms of the way the NHS is allegedly 'run' is the postcode lottery. We all pay the same taxes but the level of care available in your local area is solely down to chance. So much for the equality of treatment that the NHS was meant to be all about.
The Prostate Cancer Charter for Action launched this week (link) revealed this week that men in some areas are two and a half times more likely to die of the disease than those in others.
The number dying each year varies widely across English regions, from 15 to 38 per 100,000 of the male population. Charities and doctors said on Monday that a quarter of local health care providers had failed to implement guidelines on standards prostate cancer patients can expect from the NHS.
The Daily Mail reported the story (link) - "The middle-classes are losing out because of a postcode lottery of death rates from prostate cancer, figures have revealed. They show that a number of affluent middle-class regions have the worst survival rates, while some of the poorest have the best. Around 10,000 of the 35,000 men in the UK diagnosed with prostate cancer each year die from their disease. Some 60 per cent of cases occur in men over the age of 70."
The Telegraph reported it here (link).
Comments