If you have a problem with your car, your local Kwik-Fit mechanic will explain at length what is wrong. You will spend more time with him than thousands of breast cancer patients have with their surgeons when the bad news about their disease is broken to them. Today, The Observer launches a nationwide campaign for better treatment for breast cancer patients during their long journey through the NHS - from the diagnosis to aftercare when surgery and radiotherapy are over. We are working in conjunction with Breakthrough Breast Cancer, which has long campaigned for women to be given a kinder, more personalised service.

The extra money and staff already being provided to the NHS for transforming cancer units are essential, but they are not everything. There remain stark differences between treatment in the best and the worst hospital trusts. One in six women still gets 10 minutes or less with her consultant at the time of diagnosis.

Very small changes in the NHS could result in major benefits. Some hospitals, but by no means all, now give patients a diary of written information about their disease and about the treatment they face. Why? Because well-informed patients are usually those most able to cope with the psychological impact of the disease and the uncertainties it carries.

Ministers bombard us with announcements on targets and initiatives on cancer services, but there is still stark evidence that the aspect which matters most - the individual patient's experience - is being overlooked. Now is the time for Ministers to reassess their emphasis on targets and instead look at what is really on offer for the 25,000 women every year who are told they have this disease.

Observer campaign: send us your views

Email The Observer at breast.cancer@observer.co.uk

Or you can contact Breakthrough Breast Cancer at info@breakthrough.org.uk with your views on the draft statement.