Experts have warned that ‘delays will cost thousands of lives’ as data shows that more than 500,000 UK cancer patients waited at least two months for treatment.
In the decade up to November 2024, NHS data shows that 506,335 cancer patients did not begin treatment within the 62-day government target. This means less than seven in 10 patients (69%) were seen within two months.
Between November 2022 and November 2024 alone, more than one third of patients exceeded the two-month target. This figure was higher for those with gynaecological and lower gastrointestinal cancers at nearly one half. Lung cancer at urological cancer patients also had high rates of treatment delays, with around 42% waiting more than 62 days.
Pat Price is a leading oncologist and chair of Radiotherapy UK. She said: ‘The last decade of leadership in cancer has normalised dangerous delays and unacceptably low ambitions. These delays will cost thousands of lives.’
Rising mouth cancer cases
Oral Health Foundation CEO Nigel Carter said head and neck cancer patients faced ‘some of the longest delays’. He said: ‘Delays in cancer treatment are a grave concern for all patients, but for those with mouth cancer, time is especially critical. The longer the wait for treatment, the greater the risk of the cancer spreading, leading to more invasive treatments and worse outcomes. This often means a poorer quality of life and reduced chances for survival.
‘Head and neck cancer patients face some of the longest delays in treatment compared to other cancers and we are deeply worried that these will result in unnecessary deaths and suffering. We urge the government and NHS to prioritise cancer care and ensure that every patient gets the timely treatment they urgently need.’
Mouth Cancer Foundation president Mahesh Kumar said mouth cancer cases were on the rise due to ‘social, political and medical’ factors. He said: ‘The increase in poverty with the cost of living crisis has made health a secondary item on the agenda on the list of people’s minds. Smoking and alcohol excess is still a major problem in the UK.
‘The overloading of cancer services with non-cancer (the worried well) referrals has highlighted the fragility of the diagnostic services. The diagnosed cancer patients have to wait for imaging scans in the same queue as the worried well hence delaying the discussion on the multidisciplinary meetings and treatment planning.
‘On a positive note, we in the UK have a national institution in the NHS. It is one of the biggest employers in the world. It is keen to improve with technology and medical advancements. Patients are receiving state of the art radiotherapy and surgery with novel chemo and immunotherapies now playing a great role in cancer treatments. Cancer care and survival will improve with coordination amongst the relevant agencies and targeted funding.’
‘We need a brave and bold cancer plan’
The government is due to launch its cancer plan tomorrow (4 February) to coincide with World Cancer Day. Health secretary Wes Streeting said the government could not commit to meeting national cancer targets by the end of this term. One target aiming to diagnose three quarters of cancers at stage one or two has now been scrapped.
Price continued: ‘We need a brave and bold cancer plan or even more lives will be lost needlessly in the next decade. Incremental change will fail. We need strategies to supercharge both early diagnosis and treatment.’
According to the Private Healthcare Information Network (PHIN), the number of cancer patients seeking private care is increasing. For example, demand for chemotherapy in private hospitals surged by one fifth in 12 months. Private diagnostic MRI scans also increased by one third and blood tests by 42%.
Private sector appointments are predicted to increase by a further fifth to more than six million per year.
Price said: ‘Cancer patients are doing whatever they can to get treatment on time. While the government tells us they plan to fix the NHS, we desperately need to see action because cancer patients are falling through the cracks. We simply cannot accept a two-tiered system where if you can’t pay you face delays.’
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