Andy Burnham MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, responding to the Public Accounts Committee’s report on deteriorating cancer services in England, said:

“This report makes devastating reading for David Cameron and is damning proof of his mismanagement of the NHS. Under the Tories, cancer care has gone backwards and patients are missing out on the treatment they need.

"Cancer services have been one of the main casualties of David Cameron’s NHS reorganisation. It has disrupted the successful cancer networks, hit the cancer budget and resulted in longer waits for tests and treatment. This failed plan has taken the NHS backwards and caused extra anxiety for thousands of families. It shows that you can’t trust the Tories on the NHS.

"This slump in cancer standards is a scandal that needs to be stopped. The NHS as we know it can’t survive five more years of the Tories. Labour has a better plan to turn things around and improve early diagnosis of cancer. We will give people a new guarantee of tests and results within one week by investing in new diagnostic capacity, paid for by a levy on tobacco companies.”