Easington MP Grahame Morris continued his campaign for better cancer services in England by calling on HealthMinisters to implement the “Manifesto for Radiotherapy”.

The “Manifesto for Radiotherapy” is a road map to improving access and developing the UK as a world-class centre for radiotherapy services. The campaign calls for increased investment in radiotherapy to improve UK cancer survival rates which currently are amongst the lowest in Europe.

In the House of Commons, Mr Morris questioned Health Minister, Edward Argar MP, about cancer survival rates during a government statement on the Health Infrastructure Plan, he said:

“The Times recently published the details of answers to freedom of information requests indicating that half of NHS trusts are treating cancer patients with out-of-date radiotherapy machines. The UK will remain at the bottom of the cancer survival league until we dramatically improve our radiotherapy services, so what steps is he taking to implement the “Manifesto For Radiotherapy”

In a further plea to the Minister, Mr Morris called on the government to invest in modern radiotherapy equipment for cancer patients in every region of the UK, not just those in London and the south-east.

In response, the Minister Edward Argar MP said:

“He [Grahame Morris MP] is absolutely right that we must continue to promote that specialism and expertise right across the country to ensure that everyone gets the diagnosis, treatment and cancer care that they deserve. I would be happy to meet him subsequently to discuss the manifesto he highlighted.”