Cancer Waiting Time Targets Scrapped

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【Summary】NHS England is considering reducing cancer waiting time targets from nine to three. The targets expected to stay include diagnosis within 28 days, starting treatment within two months of an urgent referral, and starting treatment one month after a decision to treat. The target expected to be dropped is the two-week wait for a first consultant appointment after a GP referral.

FutureCar Staff Aug 14, 2023 10:22 AM PT

NHS England is considering reducing its own targets when it comes to waiting times for cancer treatment. Instead of there being nine targets, the NHS is looking to cut it back to three. Many of the targets are also routinely missed nowadays. The main target which is expected to be dropped is the two-week wait for a first consultant appointment after a GP referral.

These alterations have been under consultation since 2022, but they are likely to come into practice in the coming days once health secretary Steve Barclay gives it the final nod. The changes are aimed at ensuring more patients are diagnosed and treated as early as possible following a referral and allowing more diagnostic technologies like artificial intelligence to be used.

According to Cancer Research UK, England has not hit any of the four main targets recently. The target for urgent suspected cancer referrals standard is 93%, but as of June 2023, this was 80.5%. The target for diagnosis is 75%, but in June, it was 73.5%. The target for 62-day standard, where people receive treatment within two months of their diagnosis, was 85%, but as of June, the NHS achieved only 59.2%. Just 91.3% of people started treatment within 31 days of a doctor-approved treatment plan in June 2023 – the target is 96%.

Experts are divided on the changes. The NHS says leading cancer experts support the plan and that it modernizes the UK's standards. Cancer Research UK's director of evidence and implementation, Naser Turabi, said the UK is missing targets because of "years of underinvestment" from the government, and called for bold action. However, he did praise the streamlining of the services saying it could be beneficial. Pat Price, the head of the Radiotherapy UK charity, said she is "deeply worried" and that the UK is not investing enough in cancer treatment capacity. Labour's Keir Starmer said the government was just "moving the goalposts" when they fail to hit their existing targets.