Crisis in NHS cancer care laid bare as thousands face 'unacceptable' waiting times

The cancer crisis tearing Britain apart is laid bare today – and needs urgent action now, experts have warned. Patients are being failed by “unacceptable” NHS waiting times, the Daily Express can reveal.

The number of sufferers beginning therapy within 62 days of an urgent referral is at an all-time low and nowhere near the official target of 85 per cent.

More than 40,000 additional patients would have needed to be treated by the end of last year to reach that level.

The scale of a national emergency that now affects tens of thousands of families is shown in analysis of official statistics by Cancer Research UK.

Michelle Mitchell, Cancer Research UK’s chief executive, said: “Cancer patients, their families and loved ones are frustrated they face among the worst waiting times on record, and it’s been this way for years.

“It can be easy to get lost in statistics – but each one of those numbers represents someone’s child, parent, partner, sibling or friend.

“Thanks to the hard work of NHS staff, we’re seeing more people being referred and treated for cancer every year, but there’s still a long way to go towards providing an acceptable level of service for patients.”

A study of NHS data by the ­charity’s experts reveals the two-month wait from urgent referral to treatment stood at 61.8 per cent in December.

In 2021, around 23,700 additional patients needed to be diagnosed and start treatment within 62 days to hit the 85 per cent target. But by the end of last year that figure jumped to 40,000 – an increase of 69 per cent.

In the same month, only 80.3 per cent saw a specialist within 14 days of an urgent suspected cancer referral, missing the NHS target of 93 per cent – which has not been met since May 2020.

Around 1.19 million people were waiting for key diagnostic tests in England in December. Of these, 28.6 per cent were waiting six weeks or more.

Endoscopy waiting lists had 40.3 per cent (around 78,900) waiting six or more weeks, while radiology waiting lists had 26.3 per cent (around 260,000).

And just 70.7 per cent were diagnosed, or had cancer ruled out, within 28 days of an urgent suspected cancer referral, missing the new lower NHS target of 75 per cent, revised down from 95 per cent. If it had been met, around 9,200 additional patients would have received a diagnosis or had cancer ruled out on time.

Professor Karol Sikora, a Daily Express columnist and former director of the World Health Organisation cancer programme, said: “I was on the NHS committee that devised the two-week wait decades ago. If we were told then that 20 years later the target would have been routinely missed, none of us would have believed you.

“Patients should be waiting days to speak with a specialist, not weeks or even months. Oncologist friends of mine overseas look at the British waiting times with incredulity. How can it be so poor?

“Remember – the NHS is not free. We all pay an increasing amount of tax and deserve better.”

The emergency comes just weeks after the Government ditched a landmark war on cancer, drawn up by former health secretary Sajid Javid, in favour of a plan covering all diseases.

Today, a petition demanding immediate action on the cancer crisis will smash its 80,000-signature target.

One Cancer Voice, a coalition of more than 60 cancer charities, demands the yet-to-be-launched and “watered down” Major Conditions Strategy to be ambitious and fully-funded.

It also wants the Government to commit to transforming research, diagnosis, treatment and patient experience.

The urgency comes as cancer cases are set to blight more than 500,000 Britons by 2040 in a crisis that could sink the NHS.

Experts warn services could crumble unless action to address diagnosis and treatment chaos is taken.

The number in the UK diagnosed with a disease that kills 167,000 every year is set to rise by one third in just 17 years, taking the number of new cases every year from 384,000 to 506,000. Professor Charles Swanton, the CRUK chief clinician, said: “Right now, the NHS is just about treading water.

“By the end of the next decade, if left unaided, the NHS risks being overwhelmed by the sheer volume of new cancer diagnoses.

“It takes 15 years to train an oncologist, pathologist, radiologist or surgeon.

“The Government must start planning now to give patients the support they will so desperately need.

“I’m hopeful that through investment and reform in the health service and advancements in research, future numbers of cancer cases might not be as high as these projections warn.”

CRUK figures predict there will be 208,000 cancer deaths in the UK each year by 2040 – an increase of 25 per cent on current figures.

In total, there could be 8.4 million new cases of cancer and 3.5 million cancer deaths in the UK between 2023 and 2040, it was said.

NHS England said: “Thanks to the efforts of NHS staff, more people than ever before are being checked and treated for cancer, with 2,817,068 patients referred for checks and 320,337 people starting treatment during 2022. In December 2022, urgent cancer referrals were at 114 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.”

The Department of Health said: “More patients are being diagnosed and starting treatment earlier, with 92 community diagnostic centres open since 2021 delivering more than three million tests, scans and checks.

“We also recently announced a £10million investment in more breast cancer screening units as well as software and service upgrades.

“We are laser focused on fighting cancer on all fronts.”