20.02.15
Failure to meet cancer targets show ‘fundamental failure’ in the NHS
The NHS in England missed a key cancer waiting time target, leaving more than 20,000 people with urgent cancer referrals waiting more than two months to start treatment last year.
NHS guidelines stipulate that at least 85% of patients referred by their GP for suspected cancer should begin treatment within two months.
However, NHS England figures show that between October and December 2014, only 83.8% of patients were treated in time. It is the fourth successive quarter in which the target has been missed.
The figures did reveal improvements in other areas, including the number of people seen by a specialist within two weeks of an urgent GP referral for suspected cancer (94.7%), compared with 93.6% the previous quarter.
Sean Duffy, NHS England's national clinical director for cancer, said that despite the missed target, the number of patients seeing a specialist within two weeks of visiting their GP had gone up by 44,000 compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
"But it's crucial we focus on maintaining waiting time standards for treatment as demand increases so we are closely scrutinising these figures to pinpoint any issues on the ground," he added.
"We have also created an independent task force to develop a plan to improve prevention, diagnosis and treatment over the next five years, with the aim of saving thousands more lives."
Macmillan said that despite the improvements the long-term missed targets showed a “fundamental failure within the NHS”.
Dr Fran Woodard, director of policy and research at the charity, told NHE that 68 trusts had failed to meet the target, according to the latest figures.
She added: “It is deeply concerning that the cancer waiting time targets, which outline the time it should take for people with cancer to begin treatment following an urgent GP referral, have been breached once again in England.
“This marks a year of this target being consistently missed, a year in which we’ve barely seen any improvements to waiting times being made. This shows a fundamental failure within the NHS.”
A Department of Health spokeswoman said: “The NHS is dealing with 700,000 more cancer admissions this parliament compared to the last, while at the same time survival rates have risen to record levels – we are on track to save an extra 12,000 lives each year by 2015. We have invested an extra £750m to improve treatment and increase early diagnosis and, through the £1bn Cancer Drugs Fund, we have already given 60,000 people access to the latest drugs.”
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