Macmillan responds to June 2022’s Cancer Waiting Times data for England
Responding to June 2022’s Cancer Waiting Times data for England, Minesh Patel, Head of Policy at Macmillan Cancer Support, said:
“Today’s data illustrates the huge strain the cancer care system is still under, with many people anxiously waiting far too long to receive results and start treatment that could improve their quality of care and save lives. It’s vital that amongst the recent confusion and chaos at Westminster, cancer doesn’t get side-lined once again.“The future Prime Minister must prioritise the, now heavily delayed, 10-year cancer plan for England and ensure the NHS is provided with sufficient investment to provide the standard of care cancer patients deserve. Without this, people living with cancer will continue to pay the price.”
Key facts
· In June 2022, the number of people starting cancer treatment in England fell back below the pre-pandemic average, at a time when there is a desperate need to catch up with the number of treatments ‘missing’ since the start of the pandemic[i]
· The total number of people who have started cancer treatment in England since the start of the pandemic is still more than 30,000 lower than expected — a figure that has barely changed for months, suggesting little progress is being made in catching up with missing treatments[ii]
· In June 2022, performance against the 62-day target (for people to start treatment for cancer within two months of an urgent referral from their GP) fell to a new worst on record, with just three in five people (59.9%) now starting treatment within two months of an urgent referral, compared with the target of 85%[iii]
· Separate official NHS data shows the number of people diagnosed with cancer in England still waiting to start treatment more than two months after their urgent referral hit almost 4,000 in early June, the second-highest number on record[iv]
· The latest Macmillan analysis estimates the NHS in England would still need to work at 110% capacity for just over a further 12 months to catch up on these missing cancer treatments — however, it has still not been possible for the NHS in England to achieve this level of increased activity in any month in the past two years[v]
· Recent figures released by Macmillan show that cancer patients are currently more concerned about disruption to their treatment than they were at the end of winter. In June, almost two in five (38%) of those receiving cancer treatment in the UK were worried that delays to their treatment as a result of Covid-19 could impact on their chances of survival[vi] — this figure was 33% in similar research carried out in late February/early March[vii]
References
[i] NHS England. Cancer waiting times. Cancer Waiting Times — National Time Series Oct 2009 — June 2022 with Revisions. In June 2022, there were 25,982 people who started treatment for cancer following a decision to treat, compared with the monthly average for 2019 of 26,010.
[ii] As per ref i. The total figure for March 2020 to June 2022 is 697,528. Using the monthly average for 2019 of 26,010 we would therefore expect the figure for the 28-month period from March 2020 to June 2022 to be at least 728,275, a difference of 30,747.
[iii] As per ref i. In June 2022, performance against the 62-day target fell to a new worst-ever level, at 59.9%
[iv] NHS England. Management information on cancer. This data shows that in the week ending 12th June 2022, there were 3,957 people with a ‘decision to treat’ for cancer who were still waiting to start treatment more than 62 days from their initial urgent GP referral for suspected cancer. The only other week with a higher number than this on record is week ending 23rd January 2022, just after the peak of the 2021–22 winter Covid-19 wave. While the number decreased in mid-June, it then increased again every week for the following three weeks and stood at 3,770 in the week ending 3rd July 2022
[v] As per ref i. Macmillan analysis shows a 4.22% drop in first cancer treatments between March 2020 and June 2022 compared to 28 months of the 2019 average. This drop of 30,747 treatments is equivalent to the increase we would see if first treatments were delivered at 110% of pre-pandemic 2019 rates for 12 months. When we say ‘past two years’, we are referring to May 2020 to June 2022 inclusive
[vi] Macmillan Cancer Support/YouGov survey of 2,050 adults in the UK who have had a cancer diagnosis, including 207 currently going through cancer treatment. The vast majority of fieldwork was undertaken between 31st May and 15th June 2022, with a small additional sample surveyed on 9th and 10th July 2022. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of people living with cancer in the UK. Question wording as follows: How worried, if at all, are you about the following? Delays to my cancer treatment because of coronavirus (COVID-19) affecting my chances of survival
[vii] Macmillan Cancer Support/YouGov survey of 2,079 adults in the UK with a previous cancer diagnosis, including 222 currently going through cancer treatment. Fieldwork was undertaken between 22nd February — 13th March 2022. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of people living with cancer in the UK. Question wording as follows: How worried, if at all, are you about the following? Delays to my cancer treatment because of coronavirus (COVID-19) affecting my chances of survival.
