The number of NHS cancer patients facing agonising waits of more than 100 days to start treatment has risen over the past five years, a damning report reveals.
Nearly one in eight urgent referral cases in England (around 20,000) experienced delays of more than three and a half months in 2022.
This figure represents an increase from one in 25 in 2017, meaning it has tripled since the days before the pandemic.
Detecting cancer early, when it is most treatable, can increase survival chances by up to eightfold, data show.
Experts attributed the increase to a lack of hospital staff, beds and equipment, which is increasing pressure on the health service.
Nearly one in eight patients with an urgent referral (around 20,000) experienced delays of more than three and a half months in 2022. This is up from just four per cent in 2017. Pictured, Amy Gray with her mother Jayne, who died of bladder cancer six months after her diagnosis.
According to the data, early detection of cancer, when it is most treatable, can increase the chances of survival by up to eight times. In the image, Amy Gray with her mother Jayne and her father Steve
The analysis also found that people aged 60 to 69 were most likely to experience long waits.
Unless plans are urgently put in place to tackle this surge, the NHS “will be ill-equipped to cope”, the researchers warned.
Dr John Butler, an ovarian cancer surgeon and clinical adviser at Cancer Research UK, which carried out the research, said: ‘Every day, cancer surgeons across the UK see patients who have had to wait longer than they should have to be diagnosed and treated.
‘The NHS is treating more patients than ever before, which is fantastic, but we want to do more, and capacity is what’s stopping us.
‘Our health service’s capacity to diagnose and treat cancer patients is limited and resources and staff simply have not increased to meet the need.
‘This capacity problem (not having enough beds, equipment or staff) started before the pandemic and could get worse.
‘The UK’s ageing and growing population means that by 2040, there could be around half a million new cases of cancer diagnosed each year.
Under NHS policy, the health service must review all waits of more than 104 days to confirm whether they could have been avoided. In reviewing the reasons for these delays, Cancer Research UK and the National Disease Registration Service found that almost half in 2022 were attributed to a lack of staff or equipment.
Experts blamed the surge on a lack of staff, hospital beds and equipment, which is putting pressure on the health service. Unless plans are urgently put in place to tackle this surge, the NHS “will not be prepared to cope”, they also warned.
“Unless we start planning for this urgently, the NHS will not be prepared to cope.”
In England, more than 320,000 people (or 900 a day) are diagnosed with cancer every year, with the most common types being prostate, breast, bowel and lung.
Cancer care effectively ground to a halt for some patients in 2020 when the pandemic first reached UK shores, with appointments cancelled and diagnostic scans delayed due to the Government’s dedication to protecting the NHS.
Experts estimate that 40,000 cancers went undiagnosed during the first year of the pandemic alone.
NHS cancer services also repeatedly fail to meet their targets.
Figures released earlier this month showed NHS England met one of its three cancer diagnosis targets for the first time since records began.
Of the 273,810 urgent cancer referrals made by GPs in May, 76.4 per cent were diagnosed or ruled out within 28 days.
The goal is 75 percent.
Less than two-thirds (65.8 percent) of patients started their first cancer treatment within two months of an urgent referral.
NHS guidelines state that 85 per cent of cancer patients should receive treatment within this timeframe.
Under NHS policy, the health service must review all waits of more than 104 days to confirm whether any delays were avoidable.
When reviewing the reasons for these delays, Cancer Research UK and the National Disease Registration Service found that almost half in 2022 were attributed to a lack of staff or equipment.
Medical reasons for delays in diagnosis (such as patients needing multiple or complex tests, or being temporarily not well enough for the required tests) accounted for around a quarter of the long waits.
Meanwhile, patient-initiated delays, including canceling or rescheduling appointments, caused six percent of long waits.
Lower gastrointestinal cancers, such as bowel and anal cancers, and urological cancers, such as prostate and kidney, accounted for more than half of the long-waited cases, they also said.
This is likely due to the shortage of specific diagnostic equipment and the complexity of decision-making and treatment planning required.
Patients with breast and skin cancer were the least likely to experience long waits, but the numbers were still rising.
The charity said more research was urgently needed to fully understand why the number of people waiting for so long had increased so substantially.
Michelle Mitchell, chief executive of Cancer Research UK, said: ‘NHS staff are doing the best they can, but these figures are worrying.
‘It’s a good thing that more patients than ever before are being treated and that people are finding out more quickly whether they have cancer or not.
‘However, too many patients are still waiting too long to start cancer treatment, and this report highlights how much remains to be done.
‘A long-term cancer strategy is needed to deliver on its commitment to reduce waiting times for the disease by providing our NHS with the equipment and staff it desperately needs to diagnose and treat patients in time.’
Leading oncologist and chairman of Radiotherapy UK, Professor Pat Price, also told MailOnline: ‘The near tripling of three-month delays in cancer treatment is nothing short of a tragedy.
‘Every four weeks of delay in cancer treatment can increase the risk of death by 10 percent.
‘These statistics represent individuals and are further evidence of the deadly legacy the Labour Party faces on cancer.
“Disparities based on age and location are exacerbated by the fact that we do not have a specific national cancer plan in this country.”