Oxfordshire charity worry delays to cancer treatment will cause added stress

There are worries from a charity in Oxfordshire that delays to cancer treatment will cause added stress for patients.

It comes as Cancer Research UK say more than 300-thousand cancer patients will face treatment delays over the next five years unless the Government drives up NHS performance, according to a new analysis.

Cancer Research UK projects there will be 17.2 million urgent suspected cancer referrals in England over the next five years and, by 2029, there will be a fifth more than in the last year alone.

Claire Marriot is the Centre Head at Maggies in Oxford, which is a charity that provides care and support across the UK.

Ms Marriot tells us that patients waiting for treatment “often adds extra stress to their situation”, and she tells us the impact of the delayed treatment: “People often are totally beside themselves, not able to focus on much else and not just that person as well.

“Their partner, their children, their siblings and everyone around that person will be affected in some way.

“I wouldn’t want anyone to feel unduly anxious that the wait is going to make things worse. But we know for some people it does mean that they might not be as treatable as they were earlier on”.

'Treatment should begin within 62 days'

Cancer Research UK analysed the current NHS waiting times target, which says 85% of cancer patients should begin treatment within 62 days of an urgent referral, a target that has not been met since 2015.

It found that in the first six months of this year, 65.9% of cancer patients were treated within the target timeframe in England, meaning more than 30,000 patients did not start treatment on time.

The charity said the NHS is seeing more patients than ever before, but an ageing and growing population means there are record numbers of cancer cases.

Cancer Research UK also says that patients were waiting too long to be diagnosed in the first place, with one major issue being too few staff and not enough diagnostic equipment.

It comes the week after a major report on the NHS from surgeon and former minister Lord Darzi said cancer care in England still lags behind other countries, and death rates are higher.

His study found there had been "no progress whatsoever" in diagnosing cancer at the earliest stages I and II between 2013 and 2021.

However, more recent figures suggest some improvement.

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