Health trusts missing cancer treatment time targets

Patients should be starting treatment within 62 days of an urgent GP referral, but in a number of cases across the region this is not happening.

The NHS sets trust a target of 85 per cent of patients starting treatment within the 62 days, but only one local trust achieved this target in January.

The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, which runs the city's New Cross Hospital, was by far the worst performing health trust in the region, with only 61 per cent of patients starting treatment on time. The trust has not hit the NHS target in any month since January 2016.

Chief executive David Loughton CBE said he and his team were "doing all they can to minimise the wait for patients".

He added: "I understand that being diagnosed with cancer can be a very stressful time and we are doing all we can to reduce any stress for our patients as well as bring down our waiting times.

“We are diagnosing and treating more people than ever before for cancer and our staff are working exceptionally hard to provide the best care to the highest standards as quickly as they can. We have seen an 11 per cent increase in the number of patients using our cancer services compared to last year and this means that we do not always have the capacity to treat patients within the expected timeframe.

“Whilst growth is evidenced in all cancer areas, we have seen the biggest sustained growth within breast referrals with consistent growth in Upper GI and Dermatology.

“For example, the breast service has capacity to see 340 patients per month. However, the level of growth this year has seen referrals average 414 for the year to date and hit nearly 500 in October, November and January.

“In order to improve performance, we are working extensively with NHS Wolverhampton Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and have sought the support of the regional cancer alliance team and national cancer support teams. Their support has identified some opportunities for improvement and it has also confirmed the good processes and pathways we currently in place.

“Recruitment is also underway in a number of areas to create additional capacity, including for radiologists and breast consultants.

“I am proud of our cancer teams working across the Trust, they are hard-working and continue to provide brilliant care for our patients 24/7 often under high pressure."

The next worse performer was the University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust, which runs County Hospital in Stafford. Only 69.3 per cent of cancer patients at the trust, which also runs Royal Stoke Hospital, started treatment within the 62 day target in January.

Medical director Dr John Oxtoby said: "UHNM has continued to be a high performer in the region in relation to 62 day cancer performance but further improvements are still required.

“We would generally see a dip in 62 day performance during the holiday period, as can be seen by the decrease in national cancer 62 day performance.

“One of the reasons is patients choosing to delay their treatment until after the Christmas period and also the reduction of hospital teams availability due to winter pressures.

“Clinical teams continue to work closely with patients to ensure delays in their pathway are kept to a minimum.”

In Dudley, 78.2 per cent of cancer patients at the borough's health trust were seen within the target time.

Diane Wake, the chief executive of the Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust, said: "We are proud that in seven of the eight measures of cancer treatment times we are surpassing NHS standards, and for the 62 day standard we are above the national average.

"Anyone referred to us by their GP with suspected cancer remains one of our top priorities and we are therefore disappointed when we cannot meet patients’ expectations. We knew that January was going to be a difficult month for us because of winter pressures and we are confident that we will have seen a big improvement in February."

Sandwell and West Birmingham health trust narrowly missed the NHS target with 84.4 per cent of cancer patients seen on time in January, with Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust exceeding the target with 86.5 per cent of patients seen within 62 days.

The average across England is 76.2 per cent, the lowest proportion on record. The NHS target has not been met as a country since December 2015.

Dr Fran Woodard, from Macmillan Cancer Support, said: "January 2019 marks five years since the 62-day cancer target was first missed and despite the best efforts of hard-working NHS staff, more than 127,000 people have been left waiting too long to start vital treatment throughout that time."