The number of cancer patients facing delays in treatment has increased by more than one quarter in the past year.
NHS England’s annual report on cancer waiting times shows that last year, over 1,000 patients with urological cancer waited at least two months before starting treatment.
The timeframe is an important one, as NHS targets state that 85% of patients urgently referred for suspected cancer must start treatment within two months.
In 2013/14, 5,419 patients waited at least 62 days before receiving treatment for urological cancers, including prostate and bladder cancer. This is compared with 4,331 the previous year.
Lung cancer patients have also faced delays in treatment, with the number of patients having to wait more than two months rising 11% during 2013/14.
“Simply unacceptable”
Ciarán Devane, Chief Executive at Macmillan Cancer Support, said: “No cancer patient, including lung and prostate cancer patients, should face a long wait before receiving potentially life-saving treatment. Any delays are simply unacceptable”.
He added that those hospitals failing to meet targets were “putting a patient’s best chance of survival at risk.”
Shadow health secretary, Andy Burnham, said: “People can see that the NHS is heading downhill on David Cameron’s watch. But perhaps the most worrying problem of all is the decline in standards of cancer care.
“With cancer, speed is everything. These delays risk putting lives at stake and undoing all the progress made in recent years.”
Delayed cancer treatment
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