Three in four NHS hospital trusts are failing cancer patients, according to the first league tables of their kind, prompting experts to declare a “national emergency”.
Labour published the first league tables to rank hospitals in England since the early 2000s this week. The overall rankings score trusts based on a range of measures including finances and patient safety, as well as how they are bringing down waiting times for operations and in A&E, and improving ambulance response times.
Guardian analysis of the underlying data has found that about three-quarters of trusts are failing to hit either of the two cancer targets in the tables.
Ninety of the 118 trusts (76%) are missing the first target of ruling cancer in or out within 28 days of urgent referrals in at least 80% of cases.
The analysis also reveals that 86 of the 118 trusts (73%) are failing to hit the second cancer target measured in the tables, of starting treatment within 62 days in 75% of patients.
Delaying cancer diagnosis or treatment can lead to worse outcomes for patients, fewer options for tackling the disease, and earlier death. Cancer is the UK’s biggest killer, causing about one in four deaths.
Cancer experts said they were alarmed by the Guardian’s findings. Paula Chadwick, the chief executive of the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation, said: “Three-quarters of NHS hospitals failing to meet cancer targets is nothing short of a national emergency.
“Behind every missed target is a person left waiting, a family left in limbo, and lives put at greater risk because the system simply isn’t moving fast enough. Cancer does not wait. Delays in diagnosis and treatment cost lives – it’s as stark as that.”
Chadwick said the government and the NHS must act to tackle the crisis. “Without immediate action, people will die who could and should have been saved,” she said.
Helen Dickens, the chief support officer at Breast Cancer Now, said the figures were “devastating” and she was “deeply concerned” that many patients were facing very long waits for treatment. “More must be done to reverse these alarming trends,” she said.
Susanna Daniels, the chief executive of Melanoma Focus, said: “It is deeply concerning that three in four NHS hospitals are missing cancer treatment targets. For patients with melanoma skin cancer, delays could significantly affect their outcomes.”
Alfie Bailey-Bearfield, the chair of the Less Survivable Cancers Taskforce, said treatment delays were unacceptable. “For people diagnosed with less survivable cancers – of the brain, liver, lung, oesophagus, pancreas and stomach – time is absolutely critical,” he said. “Each year, 90,000 people in the UK are diagnosed with these cancers, and they have an average five-year survival rate of just 16%. We urgently need the NHS and government to prioritise faster diagnosis and treatment.”
Mid and South Essex NHS foundation trust ranked worst in England on 62 days to start treatment, with only four in 10 of its patients (42.2%) beginning treatment within two months. It was also the second worst performer on the 28 days diagnosis target, with just 59.2% of patients told they do or do not have cancer within a month of an urgent referral.
Graph of NHS trusts’ performance in cancer treatment
The chief executive of Mid and South Essex, Matthew Hopkins, said: “Our patients deserve better and so we are absolutely focused on improving our position as a trust. We are increasing the provision of diagnostic tests, outpatient clinics and cancer surgery to reduce the time to diagnosis and treatment.”
Hull University teaching hospitals NHS trust was the worst in the country on 28 days diagnosis, ruling cancer in or out in 57.5% of patients within a month of an urgent cancer referral. It was the third worst performer in England on the 62 days treatment target (49.3%).
A spokesperson for NHS Humber health partnership said: “We are disappointed with our position in the latest NHS league tables. They highlight areas where we must do better for the communities we serve.”
Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS foundation trust was ranked the best in England on starting treatment within 62 days (87.3%). Bolton NHS foundation trust was the top performer on cancer diagnosis, ruling it in or out within 28 days in 88.6% of patients.
The health secretary, Wes Streeting, said the league tables would pinpoint where urgent support was needed and help end the “postcode lottery” of care for patients.
“We must be honest about the state of the NHS to fix it. Patients and taxpayers have to know how their local NHS services are doing compared to the rest of the country,” he said. “Patients know when local services aren’t up to scratch and they want to see an end to the postcode lottery – that’s what this government is doing.”
A separate report published on Monday suggests breast cancer could cost the UK economy £4.2bn by 2050.
Claire Rowney, the chief executive of Breast Cancer Now, said the report produced with Demos exposed “the growing scale of the problem and the human and economic prices being paid”.
Additional reporting by Michael Goodier
