Waiting Time For Head And Neck Could Cost Lives, Experts Warn
Experts have warned that waiting times for head and neck cancer treatment could cost lives.
The latest statistics from the Department of Health show that more than 1,250 patients with head and neck cancer had to wait longer than 3 weeks for treatment, which experts claim could jeopardise their chances of survival.
Dr Nigel Carter OBE, chief executive of the British Dental Health Foundation, the UK’s leading dental charity, said that it is extremely important that patients are seen within the recommended two week period, especially as mouth cancer is becoming increasingly prevalent. Dr Carter said that the challenge is to see people as quickly as possible because most people present with mouth cancer at an advanced stage where days really count and the chances of survival fall day by day.
As with many forms of cancer, early detection for mouth cancer is vital; if the disease is detected at an early stage, the 5 year survival rate could be as high as 90 per cent, but this figure drops to just 50 per cent when the disease is diagnosed at a later stage.
Figures from the Cancer Waiting Times annual report show that 96.1 per cent of head and neck cancer patients were seen by a specialist within 2 weeks, but more than 50,000 patients had to wait longer than a fortnight to see a specialist.
Waiting times for treatment are monitored closely by the British Dental Health Foundation, which campaigns to raise awareness of mouth cancer and organises Mouth Cancer Action Month in November every year. The aim is to get people talking about mouth cancer so that more people are aware of the risk factors and the symptoms they should be looking out for.
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