Sufferers' long waits for cancer diagnosis

MORE than 65,000 people with suspected cancer are being left in limbo each month because the NHS is not meeting diagnosis targets, a charity claims.

- Hanna Geissler

The Faster Diagnosis Standard introduced in October set a target for three quarters of patients to be given a diagnosis or the all-clear within a month of an urgent referral from a GP or screening programme.

But analysis by Cancer Research UK (CRUK) found it has not yet been met nationally.

Some 74 per cent of patients got a result within a month in February - up from 64 per cent in January.