Clinical networks are groups of doctors, nurses and other specialists that help improve patient care. Over the last 10 years these networks have played a crucial role in increasing survival rates from cancer, heart disease and stroke – Britain’s biggest killers.

Ministers have repeatedly promised to protect the funding for cancer networks, but a recent survey I conducted shows that this is another in the long list of this Government’s broken promises on the NHS.

Cancer network budgets have been cut by a quarter and their staff by a fifth. These cuts, combined with the Government’s massive NHS upheaval, have thrown the networks into chaos and put the future improvements patients need at risk.

You can read the full results of my survey here: Broken promises on clinical networks December 2012

and the coverage of my findings in the Daily Telegraph, the Daily Mirror and on the BBC News website.

I spoke about this issue in a House of Commons debate on 12th December which you can read here.