Skin cancer: Yorkshire patients waiting up to seven months for treatment amidst sun cream VAT request

Data provided from 49 NHS hospital trusts found many patients were waiting longer than the 62-day standard to start treatment and the number of referrals have increased by around a quarter in the last four years.

There were four FoI responses from NHS trusts in Yorkshire.

The longest patient gap between referral and treatment in the 2023-24 financial year was more than seven months at the York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

While at the Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, the longest wait was over six months.

The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust saw an almost five month wait, and at Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust it was four months.

Lib Dem deputy leader and health spokesperson, Daisy Cooper said the state of cancer services in the UK “is shocking and tragic”.

She said: “We are seeing people up and down the country left waiting far too long for the care they need.

“This recent hot weather should serve as a stark reminder that skin cancer services are in desperate need of support and the staggering increase in referrals shows we must do more to prevent people from getting skin cancer in the first place.

“That means making it affordable for people to protect themselves from skin cancer by cutting VAT on high-factor protective sunscreen and securing a public commitment from major retailers that they will pass on the financial benefit to consumers.”

However tax expert Dan Neidle said there is “a pile of evidence that cutting VAT on specific products doesn't reduce the price of those products, it just puts more pounds in the hands of retailers and suppliers”.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We have inherited a broken NHS.

“Too many cancer patients are waiting too long for treatment, and we are determined to change that.

“As part of our mission to get the NHS back on its feet, we will improve cancer survival rates by hitting all NHS cancer waiting time and early diagnosis targets within five years.

“High-factor sunscreen is on the NHS prescription list for certain conditions and is already provided VAT free when dispensed by a pharmacist to these patients.”

The Yorkshire Post contacted the four NHS trusts for comment.

A spokesperson for Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: “In May this year we carried out a joint pilot with our primary care partners to support patients on the skin cancer pathway. As a result, an average of 100 patients a week are being seen in the community by the GP dermatology team, ensuring patients are seen in a timely manner.

“In the last three months we have treated 80 per cent of patients with skin cancer within the 62-day target. This exceeds the national target of 70 per cent. Currently there is only one patient outside of that target.”

Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust said: “95 per cent of our patients referred for suspected skin cancer are treated within 62 days, and we are one of the top performing trusts for cancer targets in the country overall. There will always be instances where individual circumstances, such as the need for additional diagnostics, impact on the cancer pathway.”