Hospital bosses 'remain concerned' about cancer waiting times as targets continue to be missed
Newcastle hospital bosses are concerned about delays in cancer treatment, with performance "markedly below" where it should be.
The joint-medical director of the Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust which runs the Royal Victoria Infirmary and the Freeman said cancer care remained under severe pressure in the city - with services operating "markedly below the standard required" when it comes to waiting times.
According to national NHS targets, 85% of patients should receive their first treatment within two months (62 days) of an urgent GP referral for suspected cancer. However, according to a report brought to the Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust's board meeting last week, the trust has seen an increase in patients waiting for longer than this.
In July only 60% of patients received their first definitive treatment within 62 days, and in August the figure was 64.8%. This issue has been replicated across the country, especially since the Covid-19 pandemic and national NHS figures show in July just 67.7% of patients were treated within the target time. Nationally, the figure hasn't passed 70% across the last three years and the target has not been met since 2015.
Speaking to the Newcastle Hospitals trust board, joint medical director Dr Michael Wright said: "We remain concerned about our performance against many of the cancer targets - in particular the 62-day target. There's some very good work going on but there remains a signifcant focus on this for us."
Both in the meeting and in the accompanying report, it was discussed how some cancer areas are impacted more than others - these include upper and lower gastro-intestinal cancers - and lung cancer. In the report, the hospital leaders wrote: "Cancer performance is still markedly below the standard required and that we would want to see.
"The performance figures documented run alongside an increase in the number ofpatients waiting over 62 days to be treated. The total number of patients currently waiting [more than] 62 days is 239." The report also highlights how workforce gaps are "significantly impacting Gynae and Upper GI cancer performance".
The issues are similar across the region and the country more widely, while medics from Newcastle, Gateshead and North Tees are also supporting colleagues at County Durham and Darlington NHS Trust's breast cancer team - which has meant a "small number of women coming to Newcastle Hospitals for surgery" who would otherwise have been treated at County Durham and Darlington.
In September, Cancer Research UK analysed waiting times data and found in the first six months of this year, 65.9% of cancer patients were treated within the target timeframe in England, meaning more than 30,000 patients did not start treatment on time.
Between now and 2029, the charity projects that more than 301,000 people will not have been treated on time, while the number of urgent suspected cancer referrals will rise by a fifth, from 3.1 million in 2023 to about 3.75 million.
The charity said the NHS is seeing more patients than ever before, but an ageing and growing population means there are record numbers of cancer cases.
In response, a Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Lord Darzi’s independent investigation found that cancer is more likely to be a death sentence for NHS patients than patients in other countries.
“This is completely unacceptable and why we are taking action to turn the NHS around, so cancer patients are diagnosed and treated on time. As part of our 10-year plan to radically reform our broken NHS, we will fight cancer on all fronts – through prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and research – to give people the care they need."