MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, Andrew Jones, has welcomed a report showing one year cancer survival rates in the Harrogate and Rural District Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) area to be above the national average and improving. The Harrogate area’s survival rates are close to the best among CCGs in England. One year cancer survival rates are measured from the point of diagnosis.
The report came from the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Cancer – a committee of MPs and Peers looking at the priorities for cancer within the NHS, patient experience, improving survival rates and early diagnosis.
The most recent statistics available show that 72 per cent of patients in the Harrogate and Rural District CCG diagnosed in 2013 survived for over a year; this is more than the national average of 68 per cent. For comparison, Barnet in Greater London has the highest one year survival rate of 73.5 per cent.
The Harrogate area also ranks highly on the five year survival rate at 50 per cent, this is above the English average of 48 per cent. Local cancer patients rated treatment positively with 92.2 per cent rating overall treatment as very good or excellent.
Mr Jones said:
Local people are great advocates of cancer support and research charities. This was demonstrated recently by shoppers and businesses getting behind the Macmillan Town Takeover Day. I was privileged to be part of that day.
In recent years we have seen cancer care facilities improve dramatically in the Harrogate district. The most evident sign of that is the Sir Robert Ogden Cancer Treatment centre at Harrogate Hospital; this is a significant investment and will lead to a further improvement in local survival rates.
All of these factors, combined with the tireless work of our local doctors and nurses, is saving lives in our area and means those diagnosed with cancer have a much greater chance of living a long and fulfilling life.
