As the Government prepares to unveil a national cancer plan for England in the coming months, ministers are looking to a European country to learn the secrets of its success. Denmark had similar cancer survival rates to the UK in the late 1990s, which fell behind other nations such as Australia. In the years since, it has dramatically improved rates.
For example, the five-year survival rate for rectal cancer rose from around 48% in the late 1990s to 69% in 2014. The UK’s rose too but only to 62%, according to the BBC. The broadcaster visited a hospital on the outskirts of Copenhagen to understand what the UK could learn from Denmark.
Better hospital equipment is one factor that could help boost early diagnosis. Denmark now has around 30 CT scanners per one million population — a higher rate than the average of 25.9 for other wealthy nations.
Meanwhile, the UK has just 8.8 scanners per million people, according to figures from 2021. Denmark also has higher national standards for waiting times, including a target to diagnose or rule out cancer within two weeks of a referral.
The NHS aims to diagnose or rule out cancer within 28 days of an urgent referral and for patients to start treatment within 62 days.
The BBC also highlighted Denmark’s efforts to improve the atmosphere of hospitals and a move to treat more cancer patients away from hospital by allowing them to undergo chemotherapy at home.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said insights had “fed into” plans to speed up cancer diagnosis and harness cutting-edge treatments.
He added: “Denmark’s healthcare system is known the world over for its excellence, having transformed outcomes through its cancer plans, and Health Minister Karin Smyth’s trip to the country earlier this year offered us vital insights up close.”
Michelle Mitchell, chief executive of Cancer Research UK, told the BBC Denmark offered useful template.
She said: “They are diagnosing cancer earlier, people are surviving longer, more people are taking up screening — all of those factors as well as investment in workforce and kit are critical components of a cancer plan.”
