NHS England misses urgent cancer treatment target

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/feb/18/nhs-england-misses-urgent-cancer-treatment-target

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More than 20,000 people with urgent cancer referrals waited more than two months to start treatment in England last year, as the NHS missed its target, official statistics show.

The NHS is required to begin treating 85% of people within 62 days of a GP referral. But figures published on Wednesday showed that in the last three months of 2014 it managed to treat only 83.8% within two months, the fourth consecutive quarter in which it had missed the target.

NHS England said 44,000 more people were being seen by a specialist within two weeks of being referred by their GP in the final three months of last year compared with the same period in 2013.

But Andy Burnham, the shadow health secretary, accused the government of disrupting cancer services through reorganisation and real-terms spending cuts, while Macmillan Cancer Support said there had been a “fundamental failure” within the NHS.

Burnham said: “In the last year, thousands of cancer patients have waited too long for treatment to start and, in some cases, their chances of survival have been harmed.

“David Cameron cut the cancer budget by £800m in real terms and, despite all the warnings, he persisted with an NHS reorganisation that disrupted cancer services. The deterioration in cancer care is a direct consequence of government policies and the clearest proof the Tories can’t be trusted with the NHS.

“Ministers have left families facing anxious waits for cancer tests and treatment, and their complacency is dangerous. We have repeatedly called on the government to produce a plan to turn things around but we are still waiting.”

Macmillan said 68 trusts had failed to meet the target, according to the latest figures. Dr Fran Woodard, the charity’s director of policy and research, said: “It is deeply concerning that the cancer waiting time targets, which outline the time it should take for people with cancer to begin treatment following an urgent GP referral, have been breached once again in England. This marks a year of this target being consistently missed, a year in which we’ve barely seen any improvements to waiting times being made. This shows a fundamental failure within the NHS.”

She called for a firm commitment by all political parties in their general election manifestos “to tackle poor cancer survival rates and outcomes as a matter of urgency”.

The number of patients beginning first treatment within 62 days of an urgent GP referral for suspected cancer has increased by over 27,000, or 28% over the past five years, an average increase of around 6% each year, the NHS said.

A Department of Health spokeswoman said: “The NHS is dealing with 700,000 more cancer admissions this parliament compared to the last, while at the same time survival rates have risen to record levels – we are on track to save an extra 12,000 lives each year by 2015. We have invested an extra £750m to improve treatment and increase early diagnosis and, through the £1bn Cancer Drugs Fund, we have already given 60,000 people access to the latest drugs.”

Sean Duffy, NHS England’s national clinical director for cancer, said: “

It’s crucial we focus on maintaining waiting time standards for treatment as demand increases, so we are closely scrutinising these figures to pinpoint any issues on the ground. We have also created an independent taskforce to develop a plan to improve prevention, diagnosis and treatment over the next five years, with the aim of saving thousands more lives.”