The scandal of cancer's postcode lottery: Report uncovers huge differences in waiting times, access to treatment and drugs Some patients four times more likely to wait over a fortnight to see specialist Cancer mortality rates are twice as high in Liverpool than Kensington Doctors should be incentivised to bring down waiting times By Larisa Brown The postcode lottery of cancer care in the UK is a "national disgrace," MPs have warned. A report has criticised the variation between people's ability in certain regions to access radiotherapy and drugs on the NHS. As a solution, doctors should get financial incentives to encourage them to reach the national target of being seen within two weeks, the report has found. But regional variations mean that patients in some areas are four times more likely to wait more than two weeks to see a specialist than in others. Cancer: Patients in some areas are four times more likely to wait more than two weeks to see a specialist than in others. The findings of the all-party parliamentary group on cancer highlighted the variation in treatment. John Baron, the chairman of the parliamentary group, told the Telegraph: "It is a national disgrace: late diagnosis makes for poor survival rates. We need to redouble our efforts at every level to promote earlier diagnosis - cancer's magic key - so our survival rates catch up with other countries. There is a particular gulf between affluent parts of London and the Home Counties and the rest of the country. Premature cancer mortality rates are more than twice as high in Liverpool as in Kensington and Chelsea, west London. The report criticises the variation between people¿s ability in certain regions to access radiotherapy and drugs on the NHS. In Liverpool there are 157 deaths per 100,000 people under 75. This is compared to Kensington and Chelsea, where fewer than 78 people die early. Nationally, a quarter of the 320,000 patients diagnosed every year are not aware they have cancer until they attend an accident and emergency unit. Residents in the North East have more than double the chance of being sent for a targeted form of radiotherapy than those in the South West. The figures show there was a wide regional variation in urgent referral rates, ranging from fewer than 800 referrals per 100,000 people in areas of London to nearly 3,500 per 100,000 in the North East and East Anglia. Those residents in the North East have more than double the chance of being sent for a targeted form of radiotherapy than those in the South West. The report's authors said: "Where a person lives should not determine whether or not they see a specialist to have potential cancer symptoms investigated." Earlier this year it was reported the elderly were being denied life-saving operations in a postcode lottery of age discrimination in the NHS. Some patients over 75 are six times more likely to have operations to remove cancer than those living in other areas where doctors have written them off because of their dates of birth. Age discrimination in the NHS has been illegal since last October and patients can take doctors, hospitals or GP organisations to court if they think they have been unfairly denied treatment. But figures uncovered by the Lib Dem MP Paul Burstow revealed patients" chances of having surgery to remove tumours, hip and knee replacements and other vital procedures depended on where they lived. Mr Burstow, a former health minister, and campaigners say the variations are so marked they can only be caused by age discrimination in some areas. The figures showed that women aged 75 in Mid Devon are almost six times more likely to have surgery to remove breast cancer than those living in Birmingham.