Almost half of all newly-diagnosed cancer patients in England waited at least two months to start treatment last year, figures show.
Just 62.2 per cent of those referred for urgent treatment were seen within 62 days — compared to more than 80 per cent a decade a go.
The figure also sits far below NHS England’s goal of treating 85 per cent of cancer patients within this crucial time-frame.
This means over 74,000 cancer patients in England are left waiting longer than 62 days to start treatment, Cancer Research UK — who carried out the analysis — said.
The government has pledged to meet the 85 per cent target by the end of this parliament.
But today, One Cancer Voice, a coalition of 50 charities including Cancer Research UK, said the UK’s current rate of improvement is not fast enough to achieve this.
It comes as one heartbroken daughter told how her father died of deadly pancreatic cancer aged 65, while he was awaiting NHS treatment.
Rebecca Gossage, from Bromsgrove, said her father Keith Bromyard first began experiencing symptoms of the disease including rapid weight loss and stomach pain in October 2021.
One heartbroken daughter Rebecca Gossage told how her Dad Keith Bromyard died of pancreatic cancer aged just 65 after never receiving treatment for his disease
But it was only after waiting months for tests that he received a diagnosis on December 30, 2021.
He was told it was too late for him to receive the only curative treatment for pancreatic cancer — surgery — yet he was the ‘perfect candidate’ to undergo chemotherapy.
However, just over a month after his diagnosis, while waiting for his appointm, his wife was forced to call an ambulance over the severe pain he was experiencing.
Ms Gosage, 41, said: ‘He was outside the hospital in the ambulance for 7 hours on the stretcher due to a backlog at A&E.
‘Even though it was oncology he needed to go to, he still needed to be triaged through A&E.
‘This is absolutely unacceptable: one. It was massively uncomfortable for him because he had started to develop pressure sores on his back.
‘A whole team of paramedics and an ambulance were outside of the hospital for 7 hours when they were likely needed elsewhere.’
He died three days after he was admitted — 44 days after his diagnosis — having never seen his oncologist.
It was only after waiting months for tests that Keith received a diagnosis on December 30, 2021. He was told it was too late for him to receive the only curative treatment for pancreatic cancer — surgery — yet could undergo chemotherapy
Keith died three days after he was admitted to hospital — 44 days after his diagnosis — having never seen his oncologist
Ms Gosage added: ‘I appreciate the NHS is under a lot pressure now and you can’t just send people for scans for the sake of it.
‘It must be higher on the government’s agenda because the signs that dad had presented with, had they been picked up earlier with a scan, it might have been a bit more manageable for everybody.
‘It might not have been so much of a shock or he may have received chemo.’
Fast access to cancer care not only reduces the chance of the disease spreading to other areas of the body, it can also mean a patient doesn’t need as extensive treatments like chemotherapy or radiotherapy for as long.
One recent study by Canadian researchers estimated that a 4-week delay to cancer surgery led to a 6-8 per cent increased risk of dying.
Writing in the journal, the BMJ, they said: ‘There is an urgent need to reconsider how we organise our cancer services.
‘The prevailing paradigm has been around access to new treatments to improve outcomes.
‘But from a system level, gains in survival might be achieved by prioritising efforts to minimise the time from cancer diagnosis to initiation of treatment from weeks to days.’
According to the fresh analysis by Cancer Research UK, more than 1 in 10 patients (11.3 per cent) also faced waits of more than 104 days following an urgent suspected cancer referral to begin their treatment — nearly twice as long as the 62-day target.
And some cancer types saw much longer waits on average for treatment.
Just over half of patients (56.0 per cent) with lower gastrointestinal cancers, like bowel and anal, were treated on time in 2024.
By comparison, less than 6 in 10 (59.1 per cent) of lung cancer patients were.
Cancer Research UK’s chief executive Michelle Mitchell, said: ‘Behind every one of these numbers is a family member, friend or loved one facing unbelievable stress and anxiety, where every day can feel like forever.
‘Hardworking NHS staff are doing their best, and last year we saw a slight improvement in cancer waiting times from the year before.
‘However, there is still a long way to go, and the UK Government must act.
‘The National Cancer Plan can be a turning point for cancer patients across England, but the UK Government must invest in staff and equipment, alongside reforms, if it’s to hit all cancer waiting time targets by the end of this parliament.
Survival rates are also at an all-time high thanks to medical advances and schemes designed to spot the disease early, when it is easier to treat. Such programmes include pop-up diagnostic centres in shopping centres, car parks and football grounds
‘It’s the least that cancer patients deserve.’
NHS bosses have long argued they are seeing more patients than ever as part of the fight against cancer, despite the slump in performance.
For instance, urgent referrals have doubled in a decade, largely down to government awareness campaigns urging patients to come forward with suspected symptoms.
NHS chiefs say the majority of cancer-stricken patients are happy with the care they receive.
An annual satisfaction survey, involving more than 63,000 people, gave it an average score of 8.89 out of 10.
Survival rates are also at an all-time high thanks to medical advances and schemes designed to spot the disease early, when it is easier to treat.
Such programmes include pop-up diagnostic centres in shopping centres, car parks and football grounds.
But despite the importance of fast access to diagnosis and treatment in improving outcomes, other cancer performance figures show the NHS is still failing or only just managing to meet targets.
Only 91.5 per cent of patients started treatment within 31 days of being booked in December, below the goal of 96 per cent.
The health service target of telling at least 75 per cent of patients with suspected cancer they do or don’t have the disease was met for the third month running, logging a figure of 78.1 per cent.
