Waiting times for cancer tests criticised

A total of 24 hospitals in the North of England are not meeting NHS standards for less than one per cent of patients waiting more than six weeks for diagnostic tests, analysis has found.

And as it emerges than at one Yorkshire trust as many as 25 per cent of patients are having to wait more than six weeks, charity Bowel Cancer UK calls for hospitals to work together to ease the pressure on patients.

“These figures are very disappointing,” said Asha Kaur, head of policy, warning that demand for such tests is growing with an ageing population and increased awareness. “It is unacceptable that patients are being made to wait more than six weeks for endoscopy tests. How soon someone is seen determines how early a diagnosis can be made. We know that if diagnosed at the earliest stage more than nine in 10 will survive for five years or more. However this drops significantly as the disease develops.

“This substantial increase in demand is creating unprecedented pressure on hospitals that do not have adequate capacity to meet this demand. Trusts and CCGs need to work together to forecast future demand to ensure they have the capacity to meet this demand.”

Analysis of the latest NHS England figures by Bowel Cancer UK show that 2,000 people in England were in February waiting longer for tests than the six week target set by Government.

These two key tests, known as endoscopy procedures, are colonoscopy and flexible sigmoidoscopy, detecting cancer at the earliest stage of the disease.

In Yorkshire, one in five patients at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust had to wait more than six weeks for colonoscopy appointments, while 13 per cent had to wait for flexible sigmoidoscopy appointments. The trust said these figures related to routine appointments rather than those for suspected cancer, and added that there had been significant change since that time.

“In January we moved to seven day working at Scunthorpe and Grimsby endoscopy units to reduce our waiting times,” said head of clinical support services, Ruth Kent, adding that currently, 94 per cent of people waiting for flexible sigmoidoscopy are seen within six weeks, and 89 per cent for a colonoscopy.

But the biggest figure was for Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust where as many as 25 per cent of patients had to wait more than six weeks for a flexible sigmoidoscopy, and 13 per cent for a colonoscopy.

“We have seen an unprecedented increase in the demand for bowel cancer diagnostic testing since June 2016,” said Trudie Davies, director of operations for hospital services. “We are working to improve our waiting times and have a recovery plan in place. We hope to be able to report a much improved position towards the end of the summer.”