Essex health chiefs hope this week to take the first step towards proving they are among the best at fighting cancer after a Government report said they had the worst chemotherapy service in Britain.
Members of the South Essex Cancer Network (SECN), which covers Brentwood, Billericay and Wickford cancer patients, will respond to the report which found they were bottom of the league when it came to prescribing certain cancer drugs.
The study caused concern among cancer patients when it was published in the summer because it suggested they were being denied access to life-saving cancer medicines.
However, the report's findings were attacked by doctors and health bosses in Essex.
Lead manager for the SECN Kevin McKenny, told the Gazette that unlike many other networks, south Essex had meticulously calculated the drug usage figures it submitted but may have shot itself in the foot by doing so.
He said around half of the country's cancer networks had accepted the figure calculated for them by the people behind the report, which in the case of south Essex would have been much higher than their own.
"We have a lot of concerns about how the report was compiled," said Mr McKenny, who will go before Essex County Council's Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee tomorrow (Thursday) to dispute the findings.
"We have a very robust service in south Essex but we need to prove it and this is the first step towards that."
Mr McKenny and Dr Colin Trask will answer questions from the council's Scrutiny Panel at County Hall in Chelmsford in the first of a series of meetings to discuss the report.
Mr McKenny said the network was also undertaking a comprehensive audit of cancer drugs which should be completed in March and which he hoped would prove they were among the best performers in the country rather than the worst.
Dr Trask agreed, saying the south Essex network had been punished for its highly efficient use of drugs and said in some networks the unused portions of cancer drug vials were thrown away after treating only one patient.
He said south Essex had meticulously adhered to guidelines set out by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE).
Published Tuesday January 11, 2005
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