I want people to have the same chance in life as me

So it is no surprise that he should lead the fight to save the city-based service which saved him.

Mr Crawford was given the allclear in December 2006 following radiotherapy at Cheltenham and, crucially, surgery at Worcester’s main hospital to remove the lymph glands from his neck to stop the cancer spreading from where it began, in one of his tonsils.

Paul has vowed to fight on until the Three Counties Cancer Network (3CCN) reveals details of a rival bid which could end NHS head and neck cancer surgery in Worcester.

John Rostill, chief executive of Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, has already said in his internet blog that data in the Gloucestershire bid may contain flaws – which has given added ammunition to Worcestershire campaigners who are eager to retain the service.

Both Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust and Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust submitted rival bids to 3CCN to host the service, but the Gloucestershire bid was preferred by an expert review panel.

At the moment, patients can have operations at Worcestershire Royal Hospital but the recommendation is for a ‘single specialist multidisciplinary team’ serving Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Gloucestershire.

The preferred option is for surgery at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital in Gloucester instead of Worcester.

Mr Crawford said: “I just want people to have the same chance in life as me. The surgeons at Worcestershire Royal Hospital saved my life.”

The final decision on the fate of the service falls to the three primary care trusts in Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Gloucestershire – which are part of 3CCN – based on the advice of patients, clinicians and experts.

In a letter to Jan Stubbings, chief executive of NHS Gloucestershire and chairman of 3CCN, Mr Crawford wrote: “Patients of Worcestershire will not be treated as second class and the only solution is to leave the excellent services as they currently are. No more hiding and passing the buck, bring everything into the open.”

Mr Crawford’s comments come at a time when Paul Bates, chief executive of NHS Worcestershire, has refused to rule out frontline service cuts and says he expects a fight as patients campaign against any reduction in services.

The organisation, which holds the purse strings for healthcare in Worcestershire, is predicting a £60 million funding gap between income and expenditure by 2013/14.

Mr Crawford, aged 68, of Highfield Close, Droitwich, has also criticised the late Gloucester bid, which was handed in a week after the deadline expired on Thursday, April 30.

But in a letter to Mr Crawford, Jan Stubbings defended the position of 3CCN.

She said the data provided, which Mr Crawford believes was flawed, did not influence the review panel’s preference.

In his letter, Mr Crawford also asked what action would be taken if incorrect data was used in the Gloucester bid.

Ms Stubbings replied that it would be “appropriate to await the outcome of the validation process”

which is a deeper investigation into the figures submitted by both hospital trusts and which is now being carried out. She was also asked if the national cancer tsar, Mike Richards, who was looking into the future of the service on behalf of 3CCN, had been told that the figures had not been validated before they were handed in.

But Ms Stubbings did not answer this question directly and wrote that the recommendation to base the team at Gloucester was that of the review panel.

Richard Burt, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary candidate for West Worcestershire, has submitted three freedom of information requests for copies of the Gloucester bid, two to 3CCN and one to Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

He has been told he cannot have a response until the final report is published. Mr Crawford has also made requests in writing to have a copy of the bid and has also been refused. Mr Burt said: “I can’t see any good reason why they should refuse to disclose this information.”

Ann Montague-Smith, chairman of the Local Involvement Network (LINk) for Worcestershire, also expressed her growing concern about the issue of head and neck cancer surgery in Worcestershire – especially with tens of thousands of homes to be built in the county and potentially higher numbers of people with this type of cancer.

Mrs Montague-Smith said: “The Three Counties Cancer Network is supposed to represent all patients in Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Gloucestershire.

“I think there is a feeling in Worcestershire that people are somewhat ignored.”

She said they had also been refused copies of the Gloucester bid, despite requests.

Mrs Montague-Smith said: “I think it is outrageous that it has got to this point, especially as the Worcestershire team is dealing with more cases of head and neck cancer than ever before.

“People in Worcestershire want a service that is local.”

No meeting date has yet been scheduled to decide the fate of head and neck cancer services, a spokesman for 3CCN confirmed.