More people are being referred to Merseyside’s hospitals for urgent cancer checks than before the pandemic – but fewer are being seen or treated within target times.
Across 10 NHS trusts serving the area, 7,617 people were seen by a specialist following an urgent GP referral for suspected cancer in April, the latest NHS figures show. That was up from 7,564 a year earlier and 6,683 in April 2019, before the pandemic caused major disruption and delays to non- Covid related hospital care across the country.
However, only 5,717 (75.1%) of the patients were seen within two weeks of being referred, which was down from 92.8% a year earlier and 90.4% in April 2019. The NHS target is for at least 93% to be seen within the time-frame.
