For the second month in a row, the NHS has met the 28-day faster diagnosis target for cancer
The NHS has announced, for the second month in a row, that it has met the 28-day faster diagnosis target for cancer as well as faster ambulance responses to call outs compared to March 2024.
The announcement builds on targeted national support for NHS trusts in reducing variation across the country and speeding up diagnosis for patients, while also bringing down the backlog of patients waiting for diagnosis or treatment from the COVID-19 pandemic.
New published data has shown that the number of patients waiting more than 62 days for care is now at its lowest ever since the end of April 2020, reducing by almost 20,000 patients since the post-pandemic peak.
In addition, almost 77% of people referred or screened received a definitive diagnosis or were all clear within four weeks, exceeding the national ambition of achieving 75% between April 2023 and March 2024.
Furthermore, the new data also shows the busiest April ever for both A&E attendances of more than two million and over 540,000 admissions, as well as almost 75% of people being discharged, admitted or transferred within four hours – an increase since April 2023.
Ambulance response times were also faster last month, achieving the most urgent cases, category one, ten seconds faster than March and the fastest since April last year, while category two calls were responded to almost three and a half minutes quicker in April compared to March.
In March alone, the NHS delivered over one million treatments and, between April 2023 and March 2024, the NHS delivered almost 17.5 million appointments and procedures – an increase of almost 250,000 on the 12 months pre-pandemic.
Dame Cally Palmer, national cancer director, NHS England, commented: “These figures show the NHS has made significant progress tackling the longest waits for patients with cancer.”
“We will continue to focus on our vital screening programmes and targeted checks to catch cancers earlier and ensure people get access to the specialist services and treatment they need quickly,” added Palmer.