Waiting times for cancer care longest on record

Latest data shows that waiting times for cancer care in England have now reached the longest on record, with performance against seven of nine cancer waiting times targets falling to its worst ever level.

NHS England’s latest monthly batch of data showing how quickly hospitals are providing key services, including surgery and A&E care against targets that are supposedly patient rights enshrined in the NHS constitution.

While 93 per cent of people who GPs suspect may have cancer should be seen by a specialist within two weeks of their urgent referral, in January just 75 per cent were – the lowest proportion ever. Furthermore, while 152,093 of the 202,816 people GPs referred to hospital were seen within two weeks, another 50,723 – one in four – were not.

Eve Byrne, director of Advocacy at Macmillan Cancer Support, said: “It is deeply troubling to see these figures now at yet another worst-ever record, as we know that any delay to diagnosis and treatment causes huge amounts of anxiety and distress for people living with cancer.

“The NHS was at breaking point even before the pandemic. After years of failing to deliver the long-term funding that the NHS cancer workforce needs, we were thoroughly disappointed to hear the Health Secretary say this week that there would be no new investment behind NHS workforce plans. Without concrete investment to urgently increase the number of cancer staff to provide the care and support that people with cancer need, any new ambitions of the upcoming 10 year cancer plan will fail.”

Amid increasing concerns about patients having their cancer diagnosis or treatment delayed, the figures also indicate that the number of people waiting for operations such as hip and knee replacements and cataract removals has risen again to just over 6.1 million - another record.

The performance data also showed that just 73.3 per cent of people who attended A&E in January were treated within four hours – the joint lowest ever figure – even though the target is 95 per cent. NHS England also detailed that ambulances are still taking longer to respond to 999 calls, both for emergency and also urgent calls.