NHS cancer crisis as senior doctors despair of 'disaster'

There may be more life-saving treatments offered than ever before, but clinicians warn that staff shortages mean patients cannot access them in time, as Rebecca Thomas reports

- Rebecca Thomas

The UK is facing a cancer care “disaster” as NHS staff cuts mean patients can’t get the potentially lifesaving treatment they need fast enough, senior doctors have warned.

More people than ever are surviving cancer, and death rates have decreased by 22 per cent in the past 50 years, but diagnoses ballooned to more than 354,820 in 2023, compared to 327,174 before the pandemic, as early diagnosis improves and treatment options have increased.

While more people than ever are being diagnosed, fewer are being treated within the government's 62-day target for urgent referrals, with 100,000 waiting longer in 2025, analysis of NHS data by Cancer Research UK for The Independent shows.

Yesterday, the government unveiled its 10-year plan aimed at turning around cancer services in England, which includes a pledge to hit all NHS cancer waiting time targets by 2029 and give more patients access to cutting-edge treatments, such as robot-assisted surgery and genomic testing.

However, experts have warned that overstretched services are already struggling to deliver treatments and train enough staff in the new techniques.

The NHS aims to have 85 per cent of patients treated within 62 days, yet the most recent data shows that just 70 per cent of cancer patients were treated within this timeframe last year. Cancer Research said that even if the NHS had met this target, almost 50,000 people would still not have started treatment on time.

Doctors say the delays mean some patients' cancer has progressed to later stages by the time they are seen, which means they often need additional or more invasive treatments, piling further pressure on services.