Cancer Research UK unveils a new website that reveals a comprehensive breakdown of cancer statistics, which allows everyone to get the latest figures for their area.

The ‘Local Cancer Statistics’ website can be searched by post-code, constituency, local authority or healthcare area and contains information on cancer incidence, survival and mortality, early diagnosis, screening and smoking statistics for individual areas.

The local figures are compared to the national average and two locations can also be compared directly with each other.

Cancer Research UK hopes the site will be a useful resource for MPs, policy-makers, health professionals, journalists and anyone who has an interest in the state of cancer where they live.  The site will be regularly updated as more information becomes available.

John Baron, Conservative MP for Basildon and Billericay and Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Cancer, said: “It’s really important that MPs and other policy makers understand the burden of cancer locally to them, and what can be done to ensure that cancer is diagnosed earlier.

“Cancer Research UK’s Local Cancer Statistics website will be very useful, and I’d recommend it to anyone interested in cancer data across the country.”

Dan Jarvis, Labour MP for Barnsley Central and Shadow Minister for Culture, Media and Sport, said: “Cancer Research UK’s Local Cancer Statistics website is a great source of information for MPs, their staff and everybody else who is interested in information about cancer like waiting times and smoking rates locally.”

Charlotte Williams, executive director at London Cancer, said: “Cancer Research UK’s Local Cancer Statistics mean health professionals, commissioners and those interested in public health can get information about factors relevant to cancer survival in one place, and can compare neighbourhoods against national averages, and each other. This means it’s easier to identify where we’re doing well, and where we could do better, and how we could potentially learn from others. This will pinpoint where we need to improve to help ensure everyone gets the best care possible.”

Sara Hiom, director of patient engagement and early diagnosis at Cancer Research UK, said: “In the UK we are privileged to have access to valuable information about cancer diagnosis and treatments for different parts of the country. And Cancer Research UK is well placed to add valuable context and insight to such data to make it more useful for busy people.

“We’ve created this website because we hope that it will allow policy-makers and healthcare professionals to understand what’s going on in their area and support local insight and decision-making.”

Source: CRUK