Herefordshire is the worst place in England for being able to track how well it is doing at spotting a killer cancer at an early stage to save more lives.

But local health bosses say this is related to reporting figures, not diagnosis and treatment, and the local mortality rate is not out of line with the English average.

Diagnosing ovarian cancer early makes a massive difference in survival rates, but an audit of how well local health groups are doing has found a big gap in information.

NHS data across the country was analysed to see how many cases of ovarian cancer were being spotted in stages 1 and 2 compared with the late stages 3 and 4.

It showed big fluctuations, from just over 20 per cent at an early stage to as high as 63 per cent. The average across England was 33 per cent spotted early.

But the review found a problem with ‘missing’ figures at some Clinical Commissioning Groups, and Herefordshire was by far the worst.

Almost half of all the cancer diagnoses in the county between 2015 and 2017 failed to say what stage the cancer was at, making it impossible to compare how well the county is doing at early diagnosis compared to others.

Herefordshire had 47 per cent of its diagnoses recorded as ‘unknown stage.’ The England average was just 17 per cent. The second worst area was Bradford with 38 per cent.

Between 2015 and 2017 76 women in Herefordshire CCG area were diagnosed with ovarian cancer: equivalent to one person a fortnight. That is roughly one person in every 5,000 of the population, a little above the England incidence rate, mainly due to Herefordshire’s older population.

There are no separate figures for Herefordshire survival rates but the combined Hereford and Worcester figure was just under 70 per cent after one year (slightly below the English average) and 44.3 per cent after five years, above the average.

A spokesperson from NHS Herefordshire Clinical Commissioning Group said: “In some cases, uploading of information has been problematic.”

But since 2017 reporting has improved and a local pilot has been launched to speed up referrals and reduce unnecessary delays in diagnosis.

“This means that ovarian cancers can be diagnosed at the earliest possible stage and we can ensure the best possible outcomes for patients.”

How to spot symptoms of ovarian cancer

ELEVEN women die from ovarian cancer every day in Britain, according to the charity Target Ovarian Cancer.

Fewer than half of sufferers survive five years after diagnosis. But the number of deaths can be reduced dramatically if only it was spotted earlier.

The figures are stark. If you are diagnosed at stage one you have a 90 per cent chance of surviving for five years. At stage 3 that plummets to 20 per cent and stage 4 it is just 5 per cent.

The Government want early diagnosis rates to hit 75 per cent by 2028 compared with about 33 per cent now.

But Target say its vital that current gaps in information are plugged. Those gaps “make it difficult to understand performance and track progress.

“We’re calling on all parts of the NHS to address the issue of data incompleteness as a priority as this will ultimately save lives.”

The charity says delays in diagnosis are not uncommon, with 41 per cent of women reporting having to visit their GP three times or more before being referred for diagnostic tests.

But there is also a major problem with women not knowing what to look for.

Research has shown that just 4 per cent of women in the UK are very confident about recognising a symptom of ovarian cancer.

Symptoms:

  • Persistent bloating, not bloating that comes and goes
  • Feeling full quickly and/or loss of appetite
  • Pelvic or abdominal pain
  • Urinary symptoms (needing to wee urgently or more often)

Help and advice:

  1. Your GP or www.targetovariancancer.org.uk/supportline
  2. Call 020 7923 5475