Late referrals mean Liverpool Heart and Chest underperforms on cancer waits

A performance report shows 81.5 per cent of cancer patients were treated within two months of urgent GP referral against the 85 per cent target, an underperformance of 3.5 per cent.

Five patients breached the target due to late referrals from other trusts, says the report.

“Due to the small numbers treated on this pathway any breaches have a detrimental effect,” says the report. “Liverpool Heart and Chest are having preliminary discussions with the strategicm health authority to see if they can have the threshold lowered.”