More than 25% of patients having cancer checks wait over 28 days for answers
Cancer targets are being missed in the NHS, though the overall waiting list for planned treatment is falling.
More than one in four patients undergoing urgent cancer checks now wait more than 28 days for the disease to be confirmed or ruled out, NHS figures show.
Data released on Thursday shows 73.4% of patients in England urgently referred for suspected cancer were diagnosed or had cancer ruled out within 28 days in January.
This is down from 78.1% the previous month and is the lowest figure since April 2024, as well as being below the Government target of 75%.
The Government and NHS England have set a new target of March 2026 for this figure to reach 80%.
In addition, the proportion of patients who had waited no longer than 62 days in January from an urgent suspected cancer referral, or consultant upgrade, to their first definitive treatment for cancer was 67.3%, down from 71.3%.
The Government and NHS England have set a target of March 2026 for this figure to reach 75%.
The data shows that GPs in England made 255,162 urgent cancer referrals in January, up from 235,157 in December and up year-on-year from 250,119 in January 2024.
Elsewhere, the NHS England figures show the overall waiting list for planned hospital treatments has fallen for the fifth month in a row.
An estimated 7.43 million treatments were waiting to be carried out at the end of January, down from 7.46 million at the end of December.
This is the lowest figure since April 2023.
Some 6.25 million patients were estimated to be waiting for treatments at the end of January, up slightly from 6.24 million at the end of December.
A total of 198,868 people in England had been waiting more than 52 weeks to start routine hospital treatment at the end of January, down from 200,375 at the end of December and the lowest number since November 2020.
In addition, 73.4% of patients in A&E were seen within four hours in February, up from 73% in January.
The number of people waiting more than 12 hours in A&E departments in England from a decision to admit to actually being admitted also stood at 47,623 in February, down from a record 61,529 in January.
Tim Gardner, assistant director of policy at the Health Foundation, said the NHS waiting list has fallen slightly “but remains stubbornly high”.
He added: “The Government has made cutting the NHS waiting list a top priority, and timely treatment is, of course, vital for every patient.
“But recent Health Foundation polling with Ipsos shows the public’s main concern is how easily they can access a GP appointment.
“General practice is the front door of the health system, and while the continued reduction in hospital backlogs is welcome, this focus shouldn’t come at the expense of improving the rest of the health system.
“The forthcoming 10-year health plan is a chance to change perceptions of the NHS and set a clear direction for the service.
“The real test for Government will be whether the public start to see genuine improvements in the NHS services they rely on.”
Nuffield Trust chief executive Thea Stein said: “While the figures show progress is being made on waiting times, with the waiting list for elective care having fallen by 35,094 in January, and 44,628 fewer patients waiting over four hours at A&E in February, this is dwarfed by the magnitude of the continued backlog for care.
“The numbers of individual patients on the waiting list actually grew in January and it is still proving relentlessly difficult for local systems to smoothly move patients through hospital.
“As many professional groups have pointed out, corridor care has become normalised.
“Today’s figures show a previously unthinkable 47,623 patients waiting over 12 hours to be admitted to hospital from A&E, shedding further light on the extent of this across the country.”
She said it was “crystal clear that the financial challenges facing the NHS are inextricably linked to the pressures caused by continued and growing demand for healthcare, the problems presented by poor or patchy social care provision, and a lack of systematic investment in primary and community care.
“Continued salami slicing and reducing so-called back office staff are therefore unlikely to be the answer to what is now a fundamental mismatch between the supply of healthcare, demand for it, and the state of NHS resources – from buildings to the morale of the staff.
“But the alternatives – finding more money or facing up to tough conversations with the public about what the NHS should stop doing – are politically highly problematic.”
NHS England said its data showed patients were waiting an average of 17 days for tests and checks in January – 43 days less than at the height of the pandemic in May 2020.
It said average waits for tests are now the lowest since 2.1 weeks in February 2020.
It added that waits of over a year for treatment now make up only 2.7% of the waiting list.
Professor Sir Stephen Powis, NHS national medical director, said: “Delivering more tests and checks faster is a vital part of efforts to cut waiting lists, and it is hugely significant that thanks to the hard work of staff and the rollout of community diagnostic centres, the average time waiting for tests has fallen to just 17 days – the quickest in almost five years.
“Despite huge pressure this winter from high bed occupancy and winter viruses, NHS teams delivered huge increases in treatments, tests and cancer checks, and as well as the overall waiting list falling for the fifth month in a row, it is welcome that the number of patients waiting more than a year has fallen below 200,000 for the first time since 2020.
“We know there is much further to go to reduce waits and delays across all NHS services, but today’s figures are encouraging and we continue to ask anyone noticing worrying symptoms or in need of care to come forward – the NHS is here to help you.”
