Baroness Jay: one-stop clinics for breast cancer

Government Targets Breast Cancer

Over the next few months, "one-stop" clinics will be set up so that women suspected of having breast cancer can be diagnosed, treated and told the results all in one day.

More specialist nurses and surgeons will be employed to reduce waiting lists for surgery.

The money, which has come from reducing health service bureaucracy by £100 million this year, will mean high quality care for women regardless of where they live in England, said the Minister for Health Baroness Jay.

"Today's announcement is a clear demonstration of the Government's commitment to cut NHS bureaucracy and to put the money into direct patient care," she said.

"This extra money will ensure that women have access to state of the art treatment for breast cancer wherever they might live."

Breast Cancer Affects One in 12 Women

Baroness Jay said: "I believe we should reduce the agonizing wait for women from the time a lump is detected, until such time they are told it is not malignant, or that they need treatment.

"I believe this money will meet an urgent need for improvement in this important service for women who deserve the best quality care the NHS can provide.

"It will help to ensure that services purchased for women who have, or may have, breast cancer, can deliver consistently good outcomes and high quality service. This is a significant step forward in our policy for women with breast cancer."

Speedier Diagnosis

Health Authorities will be asked to monitor the new initiatives over the next 12 months and report back on how effective they have been.

Baroness Jay said she expected to find speedier access to diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. Commenting on the announcement, the Cancer Research Campaign said: "This is a great step in the right direction. The Government had rightly identified gaps in the system which we have been concerned about for some time.

"We believe the treatment women get is a lottery depending on where they live. They deserve better and this should change that." The charity said the Government's next challenge must be "to address the geographical differences in standards of care and treatment for other big killer cancers, such as lung and bowel."