> You have the legal right to start your non-emergency NHS consultant-led treatment within a maximum of 18 weeks from referral, unless you choose to wait longer or it is clinically appropriate that you wait longer.
> If you want to go on a formulary hunt to see which drugs are not paid for by the NHS that are recommended under NCCN guidelines or spend your night frothing over pubmed searches be my guest.
You made the claim, you should back it up. You said that poor cancer outcomes on the NHS was caused by lack of access to new cancer meds. Your inability - over four posts - to name any drugs that are not available on the NHS is telling. Your choice to support your claim with an undetailed BBC report is odd. It certainly doesn't say what you think it says: poorer access to treatment is exactly what I describe in edit2 above.
> Yes, yes I know anecdotal experience and all that but I guess it's just a poisson distribution that everyone I've ever known met or heard of that has needed specialty care from the NHS has gone the route of private insurance for access to specialists.
What's your sample size? How do you counter the fact that there is legally enforced maximum waiting times in the NHS?
> but are clearly incensed that someone deigns to take issue with the NHS.
I criticise the NHS, in this thread. I am angry that someone continues to lie about the NHS, even after their lies have been debunked.
Check the Anger. This is an academic exchange of ideas. If you are angry go to the gym it's better for you.
A. You have debunked nothing.
B. There are no lies here.
C. Just because some random guy on the internet tells me to do something, I am no obligation to do that.
D. "Access to treatment", could mean the moon is made of green cheese but it is unlikely.
E. Since you are angry about it, cite specifically the the formulary content of the NHS and compare it to available treatments at Sloan Kettering. Since your so convinced it's true, prove it. (two can play at that)
F. Support you assertion that novel treatments only extend life by "a few months" with multiple citations from peer reviewed journals, oh and make sure their recent.
G. As far as the legal mandates. I am sure that everything in the UK is done exactly to the letter of the law in all cases and that deadlines are never missed.
H. You're assertion that closing the two week gap between when the GP starts testing and the specialist would start testing would close the mortality gap between the UK and Europe strains credulity and common sense.
"A cancer drug hailed as one of the biggest breakthroughs since chemotherapy will not be made available on the NHS, despite research showing it doubles survival"
http://www.nhs.uk/choiceintheNHS/Rightsandpledges/Waitingtim...
> You have the legal right to start your non-emergency NHS consultant-led treatment within a maximum of 18 weeks from referral, unless you choose to wait longer or it is clinically appropriate that you wait longer.
> If you want to go on a formulary hunt to see which drugs are not paid for by the NHS that are recommended under NCCN guidelines or spend your night frothing over pubmed searches be my guest.
You made the claim, you should back it up. You said that poor cancer outcomes on the NHS was caused by lack of access to new cancer meds. Your inability - over four posts - to name any drugs that are not available on the NHS is telling. Your choice to support your claim with an undetailed BBC report is odd. It certainly doesn't say what you think it says: poorer access to treatment is exactly what I describe in edit2 above.
> Yes, yes I know anecdotal experience and all that but I guess it's just a poisson distribution that everyone I've ever known met or heard of that has needed specialty care from the NHS has gone the route of private insurance for access to specialists.
What's your sample size? How do you counter the fact that there is legally enforced maximum waiting times in the NHS?
> but are clearly incensed that someone deigns to take issue with the NHS.
I criticise the NHS, in this thread. I am angry that someone continues to lie about the NHS, even after their lies have been debunked.