New figures have revealed South Staffordshire Primary Care Trust spent £43million on treating patients across the region, including Lichfield and Burntwood.
And the figures also reveal that mortality rates from all cancers and the number of years lost to all forms of the illness in 2007-08 period put South Staffordshire PCT rates in the lowest third in England.
Out of 152 PCTs in England, South Staffordshire PCTs spend on cancer patients is the 28th highest.
Helen Simpson, Finance Director said:
“The comparison of the provision of cancer care across PCTs in England is complicated and using one dimension does not readily reflect the diversity of each population and the fact that we do not have homogeneous populations across the UK. South Staffordshire PCT prioritises funding for health care services including cancer, and strives to ensure that there are no inequalities in the services provided across the whole of the PCT area.
“We are striving to further improve the health of the population of South Staffordshire and over the last eighteen months we have implemented a cancer reform strategy which gives patients access to high quality health care providers. This has been developed with key stakeholders including our local cancer networks to ensure that it meets local need.
“We also have a robust programme of preventive methods that we deliver in local communities including a vaccination process for Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). Also in this period we have invested an additional £2.7 million in cancer services; this includes £1.9 million for new End of Life drugs, £425,000 for End of Life palliative care services – a sum which will rise to £1.7 million next year, and finally £125,000 for the extension of screening for breast cancer.”.