The number of NHS cancer patients waiting longer than the crucial two-month target window has nearly doubled in the last five years, a new report reveals. Macmillan Cancer support have warned that patients are dying because overrun A&E departments are draining the hospital resources needed to give them the prompt treatment they need.
One in six people diagnosed with the disease began treatment after the aimed-for 62 days in 2016, according to the charity, making it the third consecutive year in which the health service failed to keep pace with rising demand.
NHS England’s Cancer Strategy is supposed to ensure fast access to treatment, however priority for appointments for blood tests and other checks needed before surgery, chemotherapy or radiotherapy is increasingly being given to A&E patients.
Full story in The Telegraph 8 March 2017