Cancer treatment waiting times double in four years as patients’ ‘lives at risk’

More than 67,000 cancer patients have been waiting 62 days or more for treatment, missing the national target

The number of long waits for cancer therapy have increased significantly in the past four years, new analysis has found.

Twice as many patients were waiting for more than the 62-day target time in the past year than in the same period in 2017-18.

This means that there are now over 67,000 cancer patients who have been waiting 62 days or more for treatment.

Experts have warned that the delays were putting lives at risk.

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Steven McIntosh, from Macmillian Cancer Suppport, told the BBC the delays were causing people to live “day-by-day with fear and anxiety”.

“The NHS doesn’t have the staff it needs to diagnose cancer, to deliver surgery and treatment, to provide care, support and rehabilitation,” he said.

Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said it was “terrifying” that so many cancer patients are not being treated on time.

“Having been through treatment for kidney cancer this year, I know the importance of an early diagnosis and fast treatment,” he said.

There is a 17 per cent shortfall in cancer doctors who oversee chemotherapy and radiotherapy in the UK, the Royal College of Radiologists said (PA)

One breast cancer survivor, Charlotte Park, had to waiting three-and-a-half weeks after her GP referred her to a local breast clinic. She then had to wait three months for chemotherapy after the diagnosis.

“It was so frustrating. I just felt like I was hitting my head against a brick wall. I felt under a massive amount of stress,” she said.

Some of the delays are caused by a lack of staff. There is a 17 per cent shortfall in cancer doctors who oversee chemotherapy and radiotherapy in the UK, the Royal College of Radiologists said.

NHS England’s national care director, Dame Cally Palmer, said: “We will not stop in our efforts to catch cancers earlier and save more lives.”

It comes as nurses across the UK voted in favour of strike action in an unprecedented move.

Staff in 131 NHS organisations across England, 12 in Wales, 23 in Scotland and 11 in Northern Ireland have voted for strike action.

The Royal College of Nursing said many of the biggest hospitals in England will see strike action following the vote, though a date for walkouts has yet to be announced.