NHS meets all cancer targets

The NHS exceeded all seven of its targets for cancer diagnosis and treatment during the last year, new data has revealed.

Overall just one in twenty patients in 2010-11 waited more than two weeks to be seen for diagnosis after being urgently referred by their GP while only 13% took more than 62 days from referral to treatment.

Specifically, 95.5% of patients urgently referred for suspected cancer by their GP were seen by a specialist within 14 days of referral (target 93%), with a similar result (94.8%) for patients who exhibited breast symptoms but where cancer was not initially suspected.

From diagnosis to first treatment 98.4% completed the process within the specified 31 days (target 96%) with this rising to 99.1% for those relating to breast cancer.

This increased efficiency for suspected breast cancer cases was also recorded in the 62 day GP referral to treatment wait, where 87% of all cancer sufferers were treated within the time (target 85%) and 97.3% of breast cancer patients.

Other results for the patients in England included:

• 93.7% of patients receiving first definitive treatment for cancer following referral from an NHS cancer screening service began treatment within 62 days of that referral (target 90%),

• 97.1% of patients waited 31 days or less for second or subsequent treatment, where the treatment modality was surgery (target 94%),

• 99.6% of patients waited 31 days or less for second or subsequent treatment, where the treatment modality was an anti-cancer drug regimen (target 98%),

• 90.8% of patients received first definitive treatment for a rarer cancer within 31 days of an urgent GP referral for suspected cancer (no target),

• 93.5% of patients who received first treatment for cancer following a consultant's decision to upgrade their priority began treatment within 62 days of that decision (no target).

Recently private medical insurance and cash plan providers have been placing greater emphasis on cancer treatment offered.