Breast Cancer Care: Surgery delays are unacceptable
Friday, 07 Mar 2008 12:15
A failure for all women with breast cancer to have immediate access to breast reconstruction surgery at the time of their mastectomy is "totally unacceptable", Breast Cancer Care has said.
The charity's comments follow the preliminary findings of the National Mastectomy and Breast Reconstruction Audit, which show that only one in ten women with breast cancer has access to reconstruction surgery at the time of their mastectomy.
The audit warned that local access to breast reconstruction services is not uniform across England and Wales.
And it found that a fifth of English NHS trusts performing breast cancer surgery do not employ a consultant radiologist, pathologist or oncologist specialising in breast cancer diagnosis or treatment.
Anna Wood, head of policy and campaigns for Breast Cancer Care, described the report as "significant".
"While some patients we talk to have chosen to delay reconstructive surgery until much later after their initial treatment, the option of immediate reconstruction should be offered to all throughout England, as set out under existing Nice [National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence] guidelines," she said.
"That a fifth of English NHS trusts performing breast cancer surgery are said not to employ a specialist team must be urgently addressed. Every breast cancer patient, as the report recommends, should be managed by a multi-disciplinary team.
"Anyone with breast cancer should be able to expect the highest standards of treatment and care, whenever they need it, wherever they may live."
