Almost 1.4million cancer patients in the UK have been let down by a ‘postcode lottery’ of care, a damning report reveals.

Four in ten people living with the disease (40 per cent) say they struggled to get the most suitable treatment simply because of where they live.

Macmillan Cancer Support cautions that this unjust discrepancy – compared to ‘flipping a coin’ – is causing some individuals to have limited treatment options, often requiring them to travel lengthy distances for necessary care.

Many face increased costs, stress, anxiety and exhaustion as a result, the charity added.

Over one-third of patients (36 percent) have traveled more than an hour for a test, scan, or treatment, while 3 percent – representing 100,000 patients – have risked their lives by declining appointments due to excessive travel distances.

Furthermore, Macmillan’s analysis of NHS data indicates that if waiting times across the UK were as efficient as the top-performing areas, approximately 60,000 more individuals could receive faster cancer treatment yearly.

The organization highlighted disparities in the provision of well-established cancer treatments and innovative new therapies, such as personalized medicines requiring biomarker testing.

This is likely to be having an impact on survival chances and the quality of life of survivors, it adds.

Four in ten people living with the disease (40 per cent) say they struggled to get the most suitable treatment simply because of where they live

Dr. Anthony Cunliffe, Macmillan Cancer Support’s lead medical adviser, expressed concern saying, ‘As a GP, it is deeply troubling that one’s residence can significantly affect their cancer treatment experience.

‘Unfortunately, for many cancer patients, it feels like a game of chance – a “flip of a coin” and being “in the right place, at the right time” – in terms of receiving the necessary treatment and care.’

‘We need to see urgent action taken to make cancer care fair.

‘Everyone with cancer should get the best possible care the UK has to offer.

‘Everyone should get the treatment that is right for them.

‘No-one should get left behind simply because of where they live.

‘At Macmillan, we are trying to bring UK decision-makers, people with cancer and local communities together to make sure that well-established cancer treatments and tests are made equally available to everyone.’

Macmillan commissioned YouGov to survey 2,002 adult cancer patients in the UK about the standard of their care and analysed separate NHS figures.

Dr Anthony Cunliffe, lead medical adviser at Macmillan Cancer Support

One patient, named Daisy, was 17 when she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in February.

She had to make a four to six-hour round trip to a specialist centre in Liverpool for care as her treatment could not take place in North Wales due to her age.

‘Whilst the support I got in Liverpool was fantastic, things would have been so different if I didn’t have my mum, who eventually had to stop work for a while to do everything and support me through my treatment,’ she said.

‘Sometimes we would be making the trip from Anglesey to Liverpool and back as many times as three times a week – feeling sick in the car, worried if I would get ill at home, worried about infections or reactions to my treatment, and worry that if anything did go wrong, the only option I might have would be go to my local A&E, which could mean long waiting times.’

An NHS England spokesperson said: ;The NHS is seeing and treating more people with cancer than ever before, survival rates have never been higher, and we have delivered the first increase in early diagnosis of the disease in over a decade.

‘But we know patients’ experience can vary, and we are working closely with government on the National Cancer Plan to ensure everyone gets the highest possible standard of care, no matter where they live.’