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Worst-performing CCGs diagnose less than a third of bowel cancer patients early

There is a huge variation between CCGs in the early diagnoses of bowel cancer, costing thousands of lives and the NHS millions of pounds.

New analysis of Public Health England CCG staging data released by the charity Beating Bowel Cancer shows that most bowel cancer patients are still diagnosed too late, with the worst-performing CCGs diagnosing less than a third of patients at an early stage.

The best-performing CCGs diagnose 63% of patients early, compared with only 30% in the worst.

The figures show that if every CCG area in England performed as well as the best at diagnosing bowel cancer early (stages 1 and 2), 3,200 lives could be saved and £34m could be diverted to other bowel cancer services and treatments.

Chief executive of Beating Bowel Cancer, Mark Flannagan, said: “It’s unacceptable that there are CCGs in England that diagnose less than one in three patients at an early stage. If they all performed as well as the best, thousands of lives could be saved and millions of pounds could be freed up to be used for other bowel cancer treatments, which patients are frequently told are unaffordable.

“This will require further improvements in screening, renewed efforts to raise awareness of signs and symptoms, and investment to support improvements in GP performance in investigating and referring patients appropriately.”

Those diagnosed with stage 1 bowel cancer have a 97% chance of survival, compared to just 7% when the cancer is more advanced. However, not only does early diagnosis provide patients with a much better chance of survival, it also costs the NHS far less. This is due to the fact that treatment for the earlier stages of cancer is often less intensive and invasive than treatment for more advanced disease.

If every patient with bowel cancer was diagnosed early (at stage 1 or 2) the NHS could avert treatment costs of over £103m. To put this in context, the money saved could pay for the entire bowel cancer screening process and 742 cancer nurse specialists per year.

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