WIREDGOV

More people are surviving cancer, even though more people in Wales are being diagnosed with the disease, a new report on cancer care published yesterday by the Welsh Government reveals.

The third all-Wales annual report for cancer sets out the progress made against the Welsh Government’s Together for Health – Cancer Delivery Plan over the last 12 months and identifies areas for future improvement.

The number of people diagnosed with cancer is increasing largely as a result of Wales’ ageing population. Between 1995 and 2011 there were, on average, around 16,400 new cases of cancer every year. But by 2012, more than 18,000 people were diagnosed with cancer in Wales.

The report shows there has been a 25% reduction in mortality from cancer between1995 and 2012 in Wales among people under 75. It also shows that since 1995, there has been a 17.5% improvement in the number of people still alive a year after diagnosis, with a 20.1% improvement in the number of those still alive five years after diagnosis.

The most commonly-diagnosed cancers are breast, bowel, prostate and lung cancer. For men the most common cancer is prostate cancer and for women it is breast cancer. Cancer can develop at any age, but is most common in older people.

Other findings include:

• Common cancers, such as prostate, large bowel and breast are being diagnosed in early, curable stages as a result of improved screening and education. The uptake of the bowel screening programme has increased by more than 4% since last year and is now at more than 52%
• Tissue donations to the Wales Cancer Bank have increased by 3.3% to 14% at the end of 2013
• At the all-Wales level, performance against the 31-day cancer waiting time target for those people referred to hospital for reasons other than suspected cancer but who are subsequently diagnosed with cancer, has mostly been achieved since July 2013
• In the cancer patient experience survey 2013, 89% of patients said their care was excellent or very good and 88% of respondents were given the names of their clinical nurse specialist  
• There has been a steady increase in the uptake of the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine across Wales with levels among girls in the second year of secondary school in 2012-13 reaching 86%.

The report acknowledges the Welsh NHS’ performance against the 62-day cancer waiting time target for people newly diagnosed with cancer remains an area for improvement and sets out areas for action for health boards to deliver improvements in waiting times.

Deputy Health Minister Vaughan Gething said:

“Caring for people with cancer is a top priority for NHS Wales. Over the coming years, around one in three people will be diagnosed with cancer before age 75 and around four in 10 at some stage during their lifetime. Cancer is a common diagnosis and the incidence is increasing.

“Our aim is for the Welsh NHS to provide the highest standard of care for everyone with cancer. There has been considerable progress in cancer care in Wales over the past 12 months.

“This report clearly shows that while there are more people are being diagnosed with cancer in Wales each year, death rates are falling. New and more effective treatments mean that many more people can now expect to live longer after their cancer treatment.

“However, the report also sets out the challenges the Welsh NHS faces. We do expect to see improvements over the coming year in the percentage of patients, newly diagnosed with cancer who are treated within 62 days.”

Dr Andrew Goodall, chief executive of NHS Wales said:

“The Welsh NHS has performed well over the past 12 months and seen progress in many of our performance measures. This is a tribute to all those involved in the planning and delivery of cancer services, including staff in the NHS and those in other parts of the public sectors.  

“We must also acknowledge the invaluable work of the community and voluntary sector.  We have now established firm foundations for further positive development.

“We will continue to track our progress in future years to ensure that we are in a sustainable position to achieve our vision by 2016.”

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