‘Deadly postcode lottery’ restricting new cancer treatments in England, doctors say

Cancer patients are being denied access to cutting-edge treatments on the NHS because of a “deadly postcode lottery” in access, doctors have warned.

Patients in England are missing out on two innovative forms of radiotherapy that are known to be effective against several forms of the disease and are widely available in other countries, due to “red tape” and lack of funding.

The Royal College of Radiologists (RCR) and Radiotherapy UK want Wes Streeting to use the government’s new cancer plan, being published this week, to make them widely available.

They are urging the health secretary to end what they say are “bureaucratic hurdles” that NHS England imposes, through its complex funding and commissioning policies, on hospitals that want to provide stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy (SABR) and molecular radiotherapy (MRT).

Unlocking the potential of the novel treatments would help improve cancer survival, which is poor in Britain by international standards, both organisations said.

Dr Nicky Thorp, the RCR’s vice-president for clinical oncology, said: “A number of innovative cancer treatments exist and are known by cancer doctors to be effective, but they are in only limited use in the NHS in England.

“This means that some cancer patients are missing out on treatments that cancer specialists know are effective and which could treat their cancer in fewer doses with fewer side effects.

“Doctors want to do our best for our patients, so it is incredibly frustrating for us to be in a situation where some patients aren’t getting access to the full range of treatments that are proven to help tackle cancer.”

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Source: The Guardian, 1 February 2026