APPENDIX 41
Letter to the Clerk of the Committee from
Professor S B Kaye, Professor of Medical Oncology, CRC Department
of Medical Oncology, University of Glasgow
I have been asked to consider submitting evidence
to a Select Committee inquiry on Cancer Research. Coincidentally
with this, I have ready carefully a submission by the Cancer Research
Campaign for the same purpose. This has been made available to
me in confidence, as Vice Chairman of the Campaign's Scientific
Committee.
As a medical oncologist in a bus Oncology Centre
and Departmental Head in a large provincial University, I believe
that my perspective would be close to that of many of my colleagues.
I am pleased to say that the Campaign submission is an accurate
and perceptive analysis of the current position, and from "the
front line", I would fully support its conclusions.
I would wish to emphasis one or two points:
(a) There is an inevitable and close link
between the quality of the infrastructure for cancer care throughout
the NHS, and the quality of research emanating from its cancer
centres. For example, inadequate numbers of staff, lack of funding
for new agents, and inadequate investment in equipment, means
that UK clinical cancer research inevitably struggles to compete
with activity elsewhere in Europe and the USA.
(b) Despite this, the reputation which UK
cancer research enjoys is remarkably high, due largely to the
efforts of a number of key individuals. To maintain this, and
to build for future improvements, the most valuable step that
the Government can take would be to ensure that some of the new
money being made available to the NHS is used to put in place
a modern and properly resourced framework for care of cancer patients
in this country.
3 April 2000
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