The Royal College of Radiologists (RCR) issues a warning, as it deems that long waits for cancer care are ‘becoming routine’ in the UK.
According to a recent story, the RCR stated that nearly half of all cancer care centres are subjected to delays most weeks, with an “impending crisis” on the horizon within the cancer care workforce.
The figures demonstrate that there is a 30% shortfall in radiologists and and a 15% shortfall in clinical oncologists.
60 specialist cancer centres from England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland had responses sent in by senior management, which revealed the current state of cancer care in the UK.
Conducted in November 2023, the survey found that the number of centres experiencing severe delays was almost twice as many as a year prior.
Meanwhile, managers at almost half of the sites (47%) said that patients needing chemotherapy and other cancer drugs were facing delays “most weeks or every week”, which stands in contrast to the previous year, where figures were around 28% of the sites.
Reported weekly delays for radiotherapy had nearly doubled, up from 22% in 2022 to 43% in 2023.
According to the clinical directors surveyed, the reason for the backlogs were due to shortages within the workforce.
RCR president Dr Katharine Halliday said:
“We simply do not have enough doctors to manage the increasing number of patients safely, and this problem will only worsen as demand continues to rise and more doctors leave the NHS.”
March NHS data shows that the proportion of patients in England waiting less than 62 days to receive initial cancer treatment was 69%, falling below the current target of 85%.
A Cancer Research UK analysis found that 382,000 cancer patients had failed to receive treatment within the prescribed time in England since December 2015, which was the last time the target was met.
A family spoke to the BBC after their mother endured a wait eight months to receive a lung cancer diagnosis.
Rosemary Head, 83, from Essex received treatment on her tumour in January but has not yet to receive the results, having no idea in the meantime if it was effective. Her follow-up appointment has been pushed back to October.
Jackie, Rosemary’s daughter, said:
“I’ve seen my mother get to the point where she just can’t deal with this anymore because it’s so frustrating, and that really angers and upsets me.”
Further reading
For some further information about medical negligence and treatment delays, check out this page.
How do I get in touch?
Contact our team today on 0113 306 9039, and we will advise you on whether or not your case is likely to succeed.
