Across European healthcare systems, 20% of spending is currently estimated to be wasted on ineffective interventions. Apart from their impact on our healthcare systems, waste and inefficiency also represent a considerable and unnecessary cost for patients and their families – in terms of lost time, anxiety and fear, impact on quality of life and financial burden. Ineffective interventions may also increase risk of harm, and ultimately lead to poorer outcomes for patients.

We need to improve the efficiency of cancer care, eliminate waste and target resources more effectively for the benefit of patients. We must start with a clear understanding of what outcomes we are trying to achieve for patients. Too often, we lack meaningful outcomes data – and adopt a short-term approach to decision making instead.


We need to invest in of the collection of real-world data that will allow us to understand variations in use of care and patient-relevant outcomes, and what lies behind these differences. We also need better linkages between health information systems and big data analytics to guide a continuous cycle of improvement, help target care more effectively and support technological and service innovation.



Finally, we need to take a whole-system view of cancer care, and look at ways of delivering optimal outcomes for patients across the entire care pathway. This requires less emphasis on the upfront cost of a given intervention or policy (i.e. year by year), and greater value placed on the long-term impact of care choices, investments and on outcomes and costs – including social costs.



These premises are part of the call to action from All.Can, a new initiative aimed at improving the efficiency of cancer care. (www.all-can.org)