Please read and share if you are as frustrated as I am...
Not long ago, Britain was a world-leader across all aspects of cancer care - diagnosis, treatment and research. Now? We are the sick man of Europe.
Thousands and thousands of patients experiencing horrific delays just to get diagnosed, with our survival rates reflecting this.
Politicians from all parties pontificate with the usual confected outrage, but when it comes to delivering change it’s the same old story - all talk, no action.
Whilst countless patients endure such torturous delays, three advanced cancer facilities remain unused in Reading, Newport and Northumberland. I can honestly say that these centres are amongst the very best I have seen anywhere in the world, yet our establishment is happy for them to remain empty? It is a national scandal.
Throughout my half a century in medicine, I have never been so disappointed. This network has the capacity to help 20,000 patients a year, with some of the most advanced equipment known to man - including proton beam therapy, a state-of-the-art treatment that can drastically reduce side-effects and significantly improve the quality of life for patients.
Charities, politicians and commentators will all bemoan the state of UK cancer care, yet almost nobody has lifted a finger to help open these centres. Here is a ready-made solution that could deliver results for patients almost overnight. Why on earth aren’t we grabbing it with both hands?
Countries across the world are desperately scrambling around to build proton capable facilities - I know, I am advising many of them. But in broken Britain, we are content to let three of these sites rot away at a time of record delays.
The NHS claims that these centres do not meet their requirements, but speaking honestly this is a flat-out mistruth. The machines within the centres are of the highest quality and used throughout the world. When the network was operating, all three centres had contracts with local NHS Trusts.
They also suggested that there were no senior consultants overseeing treatment and that we had no participation with academic centres - both entirely untrue.
Even removing the Proton Beam Therapy, there is still a vast amount of expensive radiotherapy and chemotherapy equipment unused, with diagnostic capacity on top of that.
The individuals within the NHS and Department of Health pushing these falsehoods are either actively lying, or understand nothing about oncology.
If we are serious about overturning the awful state of British cancer care, let's start with reopening these three magnificent facilities.
This is surely an objective we can all share.
Don’t want the penalty miss to overshadow Shackleton’s performance
Outstanding again today, didn’t stop all game right across the pitch. Great player to have in the squad who always gives his all!👊 #LUFC