Cancer recovery target will be missed, says national leader

When asked at the HSJ Cancer Forum whether the service would be back to “business as usual” performance by next spring, Liz Bishop, who sits on NHS England’s national cancer board, said: “I think it depends on what you mean by ‘business as usual’.

“If you mean hitting the 62-day numbers, and the 104-day numbers, by next March, then no. If I am honest, I don’t think we will.

“Do I know when that date will be? No, I don’t know. But what I do know is that everyone is working really hard to do it and get there.”

NHSE initially said the number of patients waiting longer than 62 days for treatment following an urgent referral would return to pre-pandemic levels by March this year, but has since pushed this back to March 2023.

According to data released last week by NHSE, 67.4 per cent of people urgently referred by their GP were treated for cancer within 62 days in March. The target is 85 per cent and performance in February 2020 was 74 per cent. The number treated outside of the 62-day standard was 5,031, compared to about 3,300 each month before covid.

Meanwhile, HSJ analysis, published last month, revealed 10.7 per cent of patients waited more than 104 days for cancer treatment in February following an urgent referral, which is a higher proportion of patients than at any point during the pandemic. Waits of 104 days are considered a “backstop” long-waiters measure, as they represent a six-week breach of the 62-day target. 

Ms Bishop’s admission comes as ministers consider a tougher cancer diagnostic target after health and social care secretary Sajid Javid announced a “war on cancer” in February. The current target is for 75 per cent of cancers to be diagnosed at stages one and two by 2028.

Ms Bishop, who is also the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre Foundation Trust chief executive, said of her own trust’s performance: “We have all got our trajectories, so for us we’ve got a target to get down to by the end of March next year.

“We were doing really well towards the back end of last year and then omicron set us back, which was hugely disappointing.”

HSJ analysis of NHSE data for January 2022 revealed the omicron covid wave had a more detrimental effect on cancer performance than the first wave. 

No ‘one size fits all’

Ms Bishop, who is also Cheshire and Merseyside Cancer Alliance senior responsible officer, was also asked about the use of independent sector capacity in community diagnostic centres.

She said it was “variable”, adding: “When there was the push to put surgery through the independent sector, we didn’t have that option [in the North West]. We optimised the NHS providers that we had.

“In terms of CDCs, we just went for getting on that framework with the first round, with the view that then we’d be on that framework as an NHS provider, but still giving us that flexibility that, if we want to work with the independent sector… I think that if it works, it works, and if it doesn’t work, then it doesn’t work. I don’t think one size fits all.”

Last October, the government announced 40 CDCs had been launched across the country – at various venues including local shopping centres and football stadiums – to help people obtain earlier diagnostic tests closer to home.

NHSE told HSJ: “The NHS is investing billions in expanding treatments and diagnostics, and the latest figures show almost 30,000 people started treatment for cancer in March – the second highest month on record.

“Identifying people with cancer as early as possible so they can be treated sooner is an absolute priority, and NHS staff continue to roll out initiatives from cancer symptom hotlines to lung scanning trucks which have already caught hundreds of cancers earlier.

“It remains vital that anyone with symptoms or concerns comes forward to get seen as quickly as possible.”

UPDATED, 18 May: This article has been updated to include a comment from NHS England.