Certainty and care for cases of suspected cancer
Four out of five patients with suspected cancer are getting a speedy diagnosis from our hospital teams. For the vast majority that’s a reassuring “all clear” as soon as possible after being referred by a GP or screening service.
For others, the news is tempered by the knowledge that the earlier a cancer is detected, the more likely it is that treatment will be successful.
To reassure patients further, our cancer statistics show that almost every case of confirmed cancer is now on a treatment pathway within a month of the diagnosis.
We are currently among the best performing hospitals for cancer treatment in London, one of only four trusts to meet all three of the revised mandated standards.
This is particularly commendable as we have the second biggest cancer caseload in the capital (after the Royal Free group).
For three months in a row our cancer teams have improved their performance on the national standard for faster diagnosis. In June we achieved the revised NHS target for March 2026 ten months ahead of schedule.
That means 80% of over 3,700 cases of suspected cancer every month are being resolved within 28 days of referral.
Furthermore, in the most recent month, almost 500 people diagnosed with cancer received a decision to treat within 31 days. And in all, over three quarters of cancer patients started treatment within two months of their initial referral.
Jan Flint, programme director for group operations, said: "All of the cancer alliances in London are striving to meet the demanding new targets set under the NHS 10-year plan.
"Under the leadership of Dr Angela Wong, Barts Health is one of the bright spots with three consecutive months of progress. Within north east London, our partners at Homerton Healthcare are also meeting all three standards, yet our hospitals see double their caseload."
Despite these improvements, one of our biggest challenges remains reducing the backlog of almost 500 cases who have been waiting more than 62 days.
We have reduced this from 12% to 7% of the cancer patient waiting list but our own target in the group plan is to bring this down to 5% this year.
We are also working hard to reduce variations in performance between hospitals and between the medical specialities dealing with different tumour groups.
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