VERY long waits for NHS cancer treatment have tripled since 2017, warns Cancer Research UK.
The charity found that 12 percent of patients did not start therapy for 104 days or more in 2022.
NHS standards stipulate that at least 85 per cent should start treatment within 62 days of their first doctor’s appointment.
The latest figure represented a four per cent increase on 2017 and means more than 20,000 people faced agonizing delays.
The risk of a long wait was highest for patients with bowel, prostate and kidney cancer, CRUK said, but increased for all types.
Chief executive Michelle Mitchell said: “NHS staff are doing the best they can, but these figures are worrying and many patients are still waiting too long to start cancer treatment.”
People in their 60s, those living in poorer areas and patients with other health conditions were more likely to experience delays.
Nine out of 10 delays are not due to patient choice
The investigation into the delays revealed that almost half were due to a lack of NHS staff, equipment or clinical capacity.
Patients who needed complex exams or who were unwell enough to go to the hospital were also problems.
Only six percent of delays were due to patient choice.
Almost 400,000 Britons are diagnosed with cancer every year and diagnosing and treating the disease costs around £7 billion.
two
Survival rates in the UK lag behind those of its European neighbors and patients in some countries were better off 20 years ago than ours are today.
Slow diagnosis and treatment are cited as the main reason why tumors are allowed to grow and spread.
Mitchell added: “A long-term cancer strategy is needed to deliver on the government’s commitment to reducing cancer waiting times by providing our NHS with the equipment and staff it desperately needs to diagnose and treat patients in time. ”.
NHS CANCER TARGETS EXPLAINED
NHS England has three targets for the time it takes to diagnose and treat cancer patients
75 percent of patients should be diagnosed or receive authorization within 28 days of your first urgent referral to an oncology doctor. The clinics are currently meeting this target, processing 76 percent in that period, in May 2024.
96 percent of patients should start treatment within 31 days of your doctor deciding you need treatment. The clinics are currently failing to achieve this target, with 92 percent in May 2024.
85 percent of patients should start treatment within 62 days of the first urgent physician referral or test result. The clinics are currently failing to achieve this target, with 66 percent in May 2024.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
