Less than 3% of NHS England trusts hit key cancer waiting-time target

At some NHS trusts, more than half of patients had to wait more than two months for treatment to start. Photograph: bdavid32/Alamy

Patients are being warned of a “shocking gap in cancer care” as new figures reveal that fewer than 3% of England’s NHS trusts met a key waiting-times target last year for cancer patients to be treated within two months of an urgent GP referral.

Of 125 hospital trusts in England analysed, only three (2.4%) hit the standard of treating 85% of patients within 62 days after an urgent referral in 2022. Some trusts have not hit the standard for at least eight years.