LONDON, England - September 8, 2011 - In order to save money, family doctors have been ordered to ration the number of patients they send for life-saving cancer scans.
They are being told to slash the number they refer to hospital for tests, including ultrasounds, MRIs and CT scans commonly used to spot tumors.
Last night, experts warned the cost-saving measures increased the risk of patients being diagnosed too late and dying unnecessarily.
Britain has one of the lowest cancer survival rates in Europe, and experts say late diagnosis is mainly to blame.
The cuts are being implemented despite government pledges to give doctors better access to cancer tests in the hope of saving 5,000 lives a year.
Health Secretary Andrew Lansley promised to set aside 750 million pounds to help family doctors send patients directly for scans instead of having to refer them to a consultant to decide whether or not they should have a scan.
This process could add several weeks to the diagnosis by the time patients have waited for an appointment and a slot for a scan.