Cancer waiting times are now the worst they have ever been with only 54% of patients starting their first treatment within 62 days in November 2022, according to a recent report. On Tuesday, the Welsh Government announced that there was an urgent need to improve cancer services in Wales.
It comes after NHS Wales published a three-year improvement plan, which has outlined how health board and trusts in Wales can plan and deliver their cancer care that will improve cancer patient outcomes and reduce health inequalities. According to the report coinciding with the plan, there was a 25% increase in the number of new cancer diagnoses in 2019 compared to 2002.
Whilst survival has significantly improved for many cancer types, outcomes for other 'less survivable cancers' have improved slowly. Suspected cancer referrals, demand for diagnostic tests and some treatments such as immunotherapy were rapidly increasing prior to the coronavirus pandemic, the report said. But with the capacity of the healthcare systems struggling to cope with this demand, it had "undoubtedly been exacerbated".
