Oncologists have reacted sharply to new NHS data, branding it a "disaster on their part" for their care of cancer patients in the UK - as waiting lists continue to fall short of Government targets.
Only 78.9% of patients in England referred urgently for suspected cancer were diagnosed or ruled out within 28 days in March – a drop from 80.2% in February.
Other data shows that only 71.4% of patients started treatment within two months of an urgent cancer referral – an improvement on recent years, but still far from the 85% target set by NHS England.
Oncologist Pat Price, founder of the "Catch Up With Cancer" campaign, said this means 30,000 patients have been forced to wait more than three months to start treatment this year.
"Today's data shows not just missed targets, but missed opportunities to save lives," she said. GazetaExpress reports.
"It's a disaster – every four weeks delay in starting treatment increases the risk of death by 10%."
Meanwhile, data shows that the waiting list for routine hospital treatments has increased for the first time in 7 months.
At the end of March, 7.42 million treatments were pending – belonging to 6.25 million individual patients – an increase from 7.4 million treatments in February.
This is a blow to the Labor government, which is implementing reforms to reward managers who reduce waiting times and punish those who fail.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the bonuses and pay increases would be a "reward, not an automatic right."
Professor Frank Smith from the Royal College of Surgeons warned:
"Without more operating theatres and an overhaul of NHS infrastructure, patients will continue to face unacceptable waits."
📉 Some improvements to longer waits:
Only 1,164 patients have waited more than 18 months for routine treatment – down from 1,691 in February.
Those who have waited more than 65 weeks fell from 13,223 to 7,381.
NHS England reported over 100,000 more treatments in March compared to the same month a year earlier.
Streeting said:
"We have been clear from day one that it will take time to reverse this inherited crisis.
But there is real progress – thanks to the extraordinary work of NHS staff.”
🚑 Other information:
74.8% of emergency patients were seen within four hours in April – less than the target of 78%.
44,881 patients waited more than 12 hours in the emergency room in April – slightly better than 46,766 in March.
The average ambulance response time for the most urgent cases was 7 minutes and 43 seconds – the fastest since May 2021, but still above the standard of 7 minutes.
Francesca Cavallaro from the Health Foundation said:
"These figures clearly show the enormous pressure that patients and healthcare staff are experiencing. The government must have clear direction and sustainable investment to achieve the objectives." /Express newspaper/
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