Doctor after doctor have come out and told us that the Tory party record on the NHS and more specifically fighting cancer is killing people in large numbers. But still many did not listen.
At least one in three (closer now to one in two) of us will get cancer and it would have seemed rational to suppose that we would want the best treatment and care the planet and science has to offer. However, it appears that for many this is not the case.
Who do you trust more on the NHS, this doctor or Boris Johnson? pic.twitter.com/izzmg0N1Iq
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) December 8, 2019
The average rate of cancer incidence in England was 593.2 per 100,000 people, but this varied across the country from 556.7 per 100,000 people in London to 630.3 per 100,000 people in the North East. (4 Jun 2018).
People in the North East of England are the most likely to be diagnosed with cancer. This is the area of the country with the highest rate for incidences of the disease, followed by The North West and Yorkshire and the Humber. (27 May 2016)
The number of people living with cancer in the UK is increasing by 3.2% every year. The number of cancer survivors in the UK is projected to increase by approximately one million per decade from 2010 to 2040. This will result in four million people living with cancer in 2030.
This data is shocking enough but when we look at the experience of people since the Tories came in 10 years ago we realise that for a cancer sufferer their problems have only just begun.
When one discovers one has cancer one of their first thoughts are ‘right let’s fight it if we can’. To then have to wait longer and longer for treatment, giving the disease more time to attack the body, is horrendous. To also find out that the policies of ones government are the cause, is criminal (or it should be).
Between 2009 and 2014, the percentage of people with suspected cancer having their first consultant appointment within two weeks of an urgent GP referral fluctuated at around 95%. After this, performance dropped slightly to about 94%, until the most recent year where it declined further. The two-week standard has been missed for the last five quarters. In quarter one (Q1) 2019/20, only 90.2% of patients had their first consultant appointment within two weeks. Nuffield Trust
If we take just 5 or 10 minutes out of our busy days to read some of the Nuffield Trust report we will find that by voting Tory those people are not just killing others but also in many cases themselves.
Now does this make any sense?
It doesn’t to me.
Penny Lane
