NHS: Faith in health service wanes over cancer treatment waiting times

More than half of people have no faith they would receive timely NHS treatment if they were diagnosed with cancer, research suggests.

A poll by Savanta for the Liberal Democrats asked people how confident they were that they would start treatment within the NHS timeframe of two months if they were referred to a specialist for suspected cancer. Some 40 per cent said they were confident they would, but 52 per cent were not confident and around eight per cent did not know. People were also asked which of the following, if any, they had done because they thought it would take too long to be seen by a GP.

Around one in five said they had called NHS 111, 13 per cent had ignored a lump or suspicious mole completely and eight per cent had gone straight to A&E with a lump or mole they thought could be cancerous.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: “It’s shocking to see how badly people’s faith in their local health services has been broken by this Conservative government – to the extent that people are now putting their own health at risk by ignoring possible cancer symptoms. Early diagnosis and treatment of cancer is vital for improving someone’s survival, but these statistics show that some people have lost confidence that they will get it.

“GPs and their staff are seeing more patients than ever before but community services are buckling under the strain.

“Liberal Democrats have a plan to keep thousands of GPs in our communities so everyone can access help and potentially life-saving referrals when they need it, with a cancer rescue plan so people can then get the cancer care they need.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: "This is misleading as the data refers to both lumps and moles and shows almost a third would in fact call 111 or attend A&E.

“We are however making it easier for patients to see their GP and have delivered over 28 million GP appointments in August 2023 – 78,200 more per working day compared to last year – and we recently announced £240m of funding to improve technology in GP surgeries and make it easier for patients to contact them.

“Cancer is being diagnosed at an earlier stage more often, with survival rates improving across almost all types of cancer and we encourage people to contact their GP if they have any concerns.”