Four in five NHS trusts are missing the cancer wait time target, damning figures reveal

More than four in five NHS trusts are putting cancer patients at risk of death or serious harm by failing to treat them on time, damning figures show.

Hospitals are supposed to treat 85 per cent of patients within 62 days of receiving an urgent referral, to maximise survival chances.

But the latest NHS England figures today revealed 123 trusts – 82.5 per cent – fell short of this target in August.

Cancer charities described the hold-ups as ‘unacceptable’ and called on the government to act urgently to tackle the ‘deadly delays’.

Helen Morgan MP, health and social care spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats, who analysed the cancer stats [please keep], said: ‘Having a cancer diagnosis is one of the most terrifying moments of anyone’s life’ (file image)

Previous studies have shown that every month of delay in starting cancer treatment typically reduces survival chances by 10 per cent.

The new data exposed a swathe of other care targets are also being missed, with experts warning the NHS is going into winter ‘in bad shape’.

The waiting list for routine hospital treatment in England climbed during the first full month of the Labour government, hitting its highest level for ten months.

An estimated 6.42million patients were waiting for 7.64million treatments as of the end of August – up from 6.39million and 7.62million, respectively, since July.

These are the highest figures since October 2023.

The increase comes as some GPs continue to slash the number of appointments they offer by uo to half – to just 25 per day – in a row over a new NHS contract.

Siva Anandaciva, chief analyst at the King’s Fund think tank, said: ‘The NHS is approaching winter in bad shape.

Shadow health minister Karin Smyth said: ‘This Government is working at pace to radically reform the NHS through the 10-Year Health Plan’

‘Industrial action is continuing, financial pressures are rising, and important performance targets continue to be missed.

‘Despite the hard work of staff, patient care in the NHS continues to fall short of expectations.

‘The Government has made its diagnosis that the NHS is broken, and now they must fix it.’

The NHS England data shows 3,335 patients had been waiting more than 18 months to start routine treatment at the end of August, up from 2,738 in July.

Meanwhile, the number of people waiting more than 12 hours in A&E from a decision to admit to actually being admitted stood at 38,880 in September, up from 28,494 in August.

Professor Frank Smith, vice president of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, said: ‘Too many patients continue to have to live in pain and anxiety, potentially unable to get back to work and help grow our economy.’

Dr Tim Cooksley, immediate past president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said the A&E 12-hour waits were ‘up more than 20 per cent on last year at 38,880 patients’.

He added: ‘This is a dire situation for the patients who are left receiving degrading corridor care and for staff who are stretched to their limits.’

NHS England said staff in A&E experienced their busiest ever September with 2.21 million attendances, and 530,824 emergency admissions.

Professor Sir Stephen Powis, NHS national medical director, added: ‘These latest figures show the pressure we saw over summer is not letting up with too many patients waiting too long for treatment.

‘We know this is likely to be another incredibly busy winter, with extra demand and the threat of a ‘tripledemic’ of Covid, flu and RSV.’

Helen Morgan MP, health and social care spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats, who analysed the cancer stats [please keep], said: ‘Having a cancer diagnosis is one of the most terrifying moments of anyone’s life.

‘Everyone should get the treatment and care they need when they need it. Sadly, we have heard countless stories where that is just not the case.’

Kate Seymour, head of advocacy at Macmillan Cancer Support, said: ‘Today’s cancer waiting times figures show that too many people are still waiting too long for cancer treatment.

‘Let’s not lose the ability to be shocked by this and remember that behind these unacceptable figures are real people worrying about whether or not they might have cancer, or when their treatment is going to start.’

Health minister Karin Smyth said: ‘This Government is working at pace to radically reform the NHS through the 10-Year Health Plan.’