Cancer overhaul could see two-week wait to see specialist scrapped

The target for patients to see a specialist within two weeks if their GP suspects they have cancer is to be scrapped under new plans by the NHS in England.

Instead the new “Faster Diagnosis Standard” proposes that patients who have been urgently referred should have cancer ruled out or receive a diagnosis within 28 days.

The NHS said that the current two-week wait target sets no expectation of when patients should receive test results or have a confirmed diagnosis.

Cancer Research UK said that the proposed new targets should lead to improvements in diagnosis.

Under the new NHS proposals:

– Patients who have been urgently referred, have symptoms of breast cancer, or have been picked up through screening, should have cancer ruled out or receive a diagnosis within 28 days, also known as the Faster Diagnosis Standard.

– Patients who receive a cancer diagnosis will start treatment within nine weeks from the date of referral, dubbed a 62-day referral to treatment standard.

– Cancer patients should receive their first treatment within a month of a decision to treat following diagnosis, which the NHS calls a 31-day decision to treat to treatment standard.

The NHS said that the plan would help diagnosed more cancers earlier and save more lives.

At present there are nine cancer performance targets which span three broad areas, including: the two-week wait between a GP referral and first consultant appointment; a one-month wait for care once a decision has been made to offer treatment for cancer such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery; and a two-month wait from the urgent GP referral to a first treatment of cancer.