8:19am Wednesday 19th December 2007
By Steve Sowden
WOULD-BE MP for Yeovil, Kevin Davis, has said he is increasingly concerned about new figures which have revealed huge variations in the amount spent on cancer patients in different parts of the country.
New Government statistics reveal big discrepancies in funding between Primary Care Trust areas. Each cancer sufferer in Yeovil receives just £6,308 a year, while cancer sufferers in Nottingham receive £17,028 a year.
Mr Davis, the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Yeovil, said the figures may help to explain why cancer death rates have increased during Labour's ten years in power.
"The Labour Government's own statistics have revealed a huge disparity in funding for cancer services," he said.
"I very much value the hard work by doctors and nurses in Yeovil, but it is being hampered by Whitehall officials who are distributing health funding across the country unfairly.
"Cancer patients cannot afford Ministers mismanaging the NHS, taking no account of the patients needs, and creating a two-tier service. Unequal access to cancer care and treatment which is so apparent in various parts of the country cannot be tackled while there are such large variations in the funding for it."
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