11 hours ago
More than two thirds of cancer patients waiting over TWO MONTHS to start treatment in parts of England - how does YOUR area fare?
England's 'deadly' cancer treatment postcode lottery was today laid bare in a damning analysis revealing where patients are having to wait months for care.
More than two thirds (69 per cent) of patients at Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in Cambridgeshire had to wait over 62 days to start treatment for their disease after an urgent referral from their GP in April.
This was more than double the proportion waiting too long for cancer treatment nationally.
By comparison, NHS guidelines state that 85 per cent of patients should start treatments like surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, within two months.
Senior cancer doctors said the data highlights the 'frightening truth' that too many patients were experiencing fatal delays.
Prompt treatment for cancer is considered critical, with every four weeks a patient is forced to wait, linked to a 10 per cent increase chance of death.
Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust ranked second worst in the nation for speedy cancer treatment, with more than half (55 per cent) of patients having to wait at least two months.
Liverpool Women's NHS Foundation Trust followed, at 51 per cent of patients and Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust with 48 per cent of patients waiting too long.
Joint fifth were Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust in Essex, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
A total of 47 per cent of cancer patients referred by their family doctor for signs of the disease had to wait too long to start treatment at these trusts.
Nationally, around one in three cancer patients (30.1 per cent), over 8,000 people, had to wait over two months to start treatment.
Reacting to the data top oncologist and co-founder of the Catch Up With Cancer campaign, Professor Pat Price, said: 'This data shows the frightening truth that a third of patients following an urgent GP cancer referral do not get their treatment on time.
'These deadly delays show that the Government needs to urgently invest in cancer treatments.'
She added: 'It is still the case that there is a deadly postcode lottery when it comes to cancer treatments.
'For instance, in radiotherapy, despite some investment last year, around half of the cancer treatment machines for radiotherapy are spiralling towards their expiration date.'
Despite the NHS target of 85 per cent, this goal hasn't been met since 2015.
Rapid access to cancer treatment can boost patient survival as it reduces the chances of a tumour growing larger—which requires more extensive treatment— or the disease spreading to other parts of the body, a far more serious stage.
At the opposite end of the scale, Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust recorded the highest adherence to the target with 96 per cent of cancer patients starting treatment within two months.
This was followed by Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust which saw 92 per cent of cancer patients within the 62-day target.
Both trusts are specialty hospitals meaning they will generally see fewer cancer patients than a normal NHS trust.
The analysis was carried out by medical negligence law firm Patient Claim Line.
The firm's senior litigation executive Michael Blakemore-Carson suggested delays could be devastating to patients and potentially costly to the NHS.
'If you have experienced delayed treatment, you could be entitled to make a claim for compensation,' he said.
A Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust spokesperson said: We are sorry that too many cancer patients are waiting longer than they should.
'We are working collaboratively internally and with our partner hospitals to make sure referrals reach us earlier, so we can provide the very best, timely care.'
A spokesperson for NHS Humber Health Partnerships, which represents Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust and Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, blamed the figures on rising cancer cases in the area.
'We are working hard to minimise delays to our patients who are waiting to start their cancer treatment, and I am sorry some people are waiting longer than we would like,' they said.
'However, we are seeing a striking growth in the number of referrals coming into our hospitals. To try to deal with this we are providing additional "one stop" sessions at weekends, thanks to the help of our medical, nursing and imaging staff.'
Stephanie Lawton, chief operating officer at The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust also said the trust was working to reduce waiting times for cancer patients.
'We are focusing on initiatives including additional clinical triage of all patient referrals, further diagnostic and outpatient capacity, and a review of our external pathways to support patients requiring onward referral to specialist centres,' she said.
'In some services, we are working on "one-stop" diagnostic capacity, so patients have all their investigations in one visit.'
Christine Blanshard, chief medical Officer for Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, also said they were working to make improvements.
'Our priority is to provide the highest possible quality of patient care, and we appreciate how difficult it is for anyone waiting for cancer treatment,' she said.
'We are implementing an improvement plan focused on rapidly reducing cancer diagnosis and treatments times.'
Kirsten Major, Chief Executive, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: Reducing the time patients wait for cancer treatment is a top priority and whilst we have more work to do, we have already reduced the wait time by five days following focused work to increase both staffing and capacity over the past year.'
Other NHS data shows other cancer targets are struggling to meet ministers' ambitions.
The Government has target that by March 2026, 80 per cent of all urgent cancer referrals should be either diagnosed or ruled out within 28 days.
But the latest figures show this was only true for 76.7 per cent of patients in April, down from 78.9 per cent in March.
Both figures are above the current target of 75 per cent of patients being told they have disease or have it ruled out within this time frame.
Another target, that cancer patients should only wait a month from a decision to treat their cancer to starting that treatment was also missed.
The NHS only managed to treat 91.3 per cent of cancer patients within 31 days. The target is 96 per cent.
Oncologists—doctors who specialise in cancer care—have previously described the continuing failure for the NHS to meet its cancer treatment targets as a 'heartbreaking disaster'.
Almost 400,000 cancer cases are diagnosed across the UK each year, with almost 170,000 deaths from the disease recorded per annum.
Nearly half of all Britons—45 per cent of men and 43 per cent of women—are expected to be diagnosed with some form of cancer during their lifetime.
