Cancer waiting times: 15 NHS hospital trusts in England with the longest waiting times for urgent referrals

Cancer charities have branded NHS cancer waiting times “unacceptable” as new analysis reveals hospital trusts across the country are routinely failing to hit targets for seeing patients urgently for suspected cancer.

Around seven in 10 trusts on average are failing to hit the target, according to analysis of NHS data by Press Association (PA). The number of hospitals failing to hit the national target for cancer referrals is the highest it has been for at least three years.

In England, the maximum waiting time for a hospital appointment for suspected cancer is two weeks from the day the hospital receives a referral letter from a GP. NHS England guidelines state 93% of patients should be seen within this timeframe. But the new analysis shows that in the 12-months to August, 84 out of 117 trusts (72%) failed to hit this target.

Read more: Cancer referrals: NHS trusts routinely failing to hit urgent target - how long are patients waiting?

Cancer Research UK branded the figures “unacceptable”, adding the waiting time targets should be the minimum standard patients can expect. Additional analysis by NationalWorld shows 109 Trusts (78%) failed to hit the two-week target in August of this year (taking the month alone, rather than the 12-month average). Across all providers, including those who hit the target, over 62,000 patients waited over two weeks for a consultation after an urgent GP referral. That was 24% of patients seen by a cancer specialist in August following an urgent GP referral, despite the targets meaning a maximum of 7% should have to wait this long.

Here we reveal the 15 NHS Trusts that had the longest waiting times in England in August.