PM's Cancer Care Pledge
Every cancer patient in England will be offered free, one-to-one home care by specialist nurses if Labour wins the election, Gordon Brown is to pledge.
08 Feb
In a speech to the King's Fund think tank later today, Monday 8 February, the PM is expected to pledge access to home treatment for every cancer patient within five years. Labour says this would save over £2.5 billion a year by reducing hospital admissions. The proposals on cancer treatment are expected to form part of a wider plan to give more patients the option of receiving chemotherapy, dialysis and palliative care without travelling to hospital.
Maggie Alexander, Director of Policy at Breakthrough Breast Cancer, says:
"Breakthrough Breast Cancer welcomes the Government's pledge, which represents a big increase in patient choice about how they are treated. We will be interested to understand more about the Government's economic model for implementing this commitment. But sufficient access to a specialist nurse to prevent conditions such as lymphoedema after breast cancer could offer potential benefits to both patients and the NHS.
"Women tell Breakthrough that specialist nurses are vital and that is why we will be working with all political parties in the next few months to ensure that all breast cancer patients have appropriate access to a breast cancer nurse."
