Nearly 1,000 Shropshire cancer patients had to wait two months for treatment last year
Almost 1,000 cancer patients across Shropshire had to wait more than two months for treatment last year, an MP has revealed.
Helen Morgan said a study by the House of Commons Library, commissioned by her party, the Liberal Democrats, shows that 997 patients at Shrewsbury and Telford hospitals had to wait more than 62 days for treatment to start in 2022.
The MP for North Shropshire said the figures meant that almost 49 per cent of patients did not receive their first treatment within the Government's 62-day target of an urgent GP referral.
Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) has not hit the target of 85 per cent of patients being treated within two months since 2017, and nationally, more than 66,000 patients were forced to wait more than two months for their first treatment after a cancer referral last year.
The figures were revealed as Helen Morgan questioned Health Secretary Steve Barclay in the House of Commons on Tuesday as to when he was going to meet Shropshire MPs to discuss the challenges facing the county's NHS.
In January, Mr Barclay had agreed to a meeting put forward by Ms Morgan but had not agreed a date.
She told the Commons: “On January 30, the Secretary of State agreed to meet with me and my colleagues who represent the other parts of Shropshire to discuss the particularly acute issues that we've been seeing at our hospitals.
"That meeting isn't in the diary, and I wondered if he would commit to arranging that as soon as possible so that we can get these issues addressed?”
Mr Barclay apologised to the North Shropshire MP and promised to “expedite” the meeting.
Speaking afterwards, Ms Morgan said: "These shocking delays for cancer treatment are indicative of the wider crisis facing the NHS in Shropshire and the huge pressure on our hospitals, GPs, ambulances and carers.
“I’m glad that the Health Secretary has agreed to meet with Shropshire MPs to discuss how he can address the specific problems we face – a large part of which come down to recruitment and retention across all of health and social care.
“The Government has been driving our local health services into the ground and it is patients who are suffering as a result. Shropshire deserves better.
“Delays to cancer diagnoses and treatments are incredibly distressing for those with cancer and those who fear they may have it and must be improved.”
