UK's Cancer Backlog May Take Up To 5 Years To Clear

The NHS backlog in cancer treatment could last for five years without urgent action, a charity has warned.

- Martyn Brown Senior Political Correspondent

Action Radiotherapy told the Daily Express 100,000 people could still be waiting for potentially life-saving procedures due to the pandemic.

It says cancer services would need to be working at around 120 per cent to clear the backlog over the next two years.

But without extra cash and investment in new, “smarter” equipment the problem could take until 2025 to clear.

Professor Pat Price, founder of the Catch Up With Cancer campaign and chair of Action Radiotherapy, said: “Frustration is boiling over that such obvious solutions to prevent a national cancer crisis are being overlooked. Services are not yet at full pre-Covid capacity, so the frightening backlog is building.

“The message to the Government is that you have really got to invest now, just get on with it and put some money behind it and respond to these smart solutions that are available.