Why is cancer survival poorer in some population groups in countries with universal access to healthcare? Why does access to optimal cancer care vary between different cancer patients? What are the mechanisms leading to such disparities?
These are the type of questions our research aims to answer. Our ambition is to reduce these inequalities, ensuring that everyone, regardless of their socio-demographic background, benefits from improvements in cancer care. We aim to do this by providing evidence that enables policymakers to address these inequalities through targeted interventions. By identifying and explaining the mechanisms which generate the persisting inequalities in cancer care and survival, we can suggest interventions and evaluate existing and proposed interventions in their ability to reduce inequalities.
Latest posts
- The impact of the covid-19 pandemic on cancer deaths due to delays in diagnosisSince a national lockdown was introduced across the UK in March, 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, cancer screening has been suspended, routine diagnostic work deferred, and only urgent symptomatic cases prioritised for diagnostic intervention.
- National cancer plansIn 1996 a government report showed that there was a difference in how long cancer patients were surviving depending on how wealthy they were (we call it the ‘deprivation gap in survival’).
- Developing a risk score for pancreatic cancer diagnosisUsing machine learning techniques applied to linked routine data: a pilot study