The NHS have launched a consultation which will look to improve the effectiveness of the current cancer pathway and therefore increase the success rate and patient outcome.
Clinical leaders have developed the new proposals, which have also been backed by NHS staff and patient groups and think that new simplified cancer standards will save more lives through earlier diagnosis.
Currently, there are nine separate performance standards, all complex. Each of those cover different routes into the system such as a GP referral or screening.
The new consultation will propose that all patients have the same opportunities for faster diagnosis and treatment, these include:
A 28-day fast diagnosis standard. This is for patients who have been urgently referred, have breast cancer, or have had potential cancer picked up through screening. The new standard will mean these patients must be ruled out of having cancer or diagnosed within 28 days.
Patients who have received a cancer diagnosis should start treatment within nine weeks (62-days) from the date of referral.
A 31-day decision to treat to treatment standard, so that cancer patients receive their first treatment within a month of a decision to treat following diagnosis.
Access standards for cancer care have not been changed since 2009 and leaves patients with no real targets for when they should receive test results or official diagnosis.
Dame Cally Palmer, NHS National Director for Cancer said: “Access standards have been key to improving timeliness of treatment for people with cancer since they were first introduced in 2000.
“As we see advances in diagnosis and treatments for cancer, it is only right that these standards are modernised – so that we can ensure patients are diagnosed more quickly and are given the treatment they need as soon as possible, helping us save even more lives.
“These proposed changes are an important part of improving cancer care and so from today, the NHS will be inviting views from patients, staff and the public”.
The new standards have been tested in some regions and results have shown that performance against the 62-day referral to treatment standard are over five percent higher (74.9 percent) than the control group (71.1 percent) when using the new measures.
Professor Peter Johnson, National Clinical Director for Cancer for NHS England, said: “We know that people having tests for possible cancer want to know the results quickly, and updating the standards to reflect this will help us to make sure we are able to deliver the best possible care.
“We are encouraging colleagues in NHS cancer services to share their views on the consultation to ensure we have standards that are better for people with cancer”.
These new proposals are in addition to the aims announced last month in the elective recovery plan, which revealed its intentions to return the number of patients waiting over 62 -days after urgent referral to pre-pandemic times by this time next year.
The consultation will run until the 6th April 2022, you can submitt your views here.
