Lack of Specialist Nurses Threaten The Quality Of Breast Cancer Care In The UK
The Breast Cancer Care organization reported that there has been almost a 20% rise in diagnosed cases in England over the last decade. This number hasn’t resulted in the increase breast cancer specialist nurses though.
In England, breast cancer cases rose from 38,153 in 2003 to 44,831 in 2013, but records that started being kept from 2007 showed the amount of breast cancer nurses remained the same at 434. This threatens the care of breast cancer patients receive because of nurse work overload.
This is of great concern because in the UK as a whole the number of breast cancer cases is expected to double from 691,000 to 1.7m by 2040. The current response to ovarian cancer treatment troubles Breast Cancer Care.
The organization cited figures from the National Cancer Intelligence Network that suggested 81% of women aged 15-54 with ovarian cancer underwent surgery, while only 52% of those over 55 had an operation.
It appeared that treatment was being offered to a younger group of women, when the same treatment should be offered to all women. It is troubling because the if same response is used breast cancer patients a younger group of women would be offered better care than older women.
Tags: anti-cancer, breast cancer, cancer awareness
