Almost every hospital trust in England is failing to meet the crucial NHS England waiting-time target for cancer treatment, according to an extensive analysis by BBC. Out of 121 acute trusts, only three achieved the benchmark of beginning treatment within 62 days of urgent referral during the period from September 2024 to August 2025. Experts warn that such delays could be putting lives at risk.
Treatment delays in cancer care are not merely inconvenient — they affect survival. International research cited by leading expert Dr Timothy Hanna shows that every four-week delay in treatment on average reduces patient survival by around 10 %. Dr Hanna described the BBC’s findings as “worrying” and noted that the failure to hit targets is not isolated to a few trusts but has become the norm across the NHS in England.
The numbers and how services are assessed
Under the current standards in England, trusts are expected to meet three key benchmarks:
•Diagnose or rule out cancer within 28 days of an urgent referral for at least 75 % of cases.
•Begin first treatment within 31 days of the decision to treat in at least 96 % of cases.
•Ensure that the entire pathway — from urgent referral to first treatment — takes no longer than 62 days in at least 85 % of cases.
The BBC’s review found that nearly one in four trusts missed all three of these targets in the year under review.
Patients caught in the waiting-game
Consider the case of “Paul” (name changed), diagnosed with stage III colon cancer. His first biopsy was taken in January 2024, but despite his efforts there was no further contact from cancer services until January 2025—with surgery following only in February. “The waiting was horrendous and now I think that if I had been treated properly and not had to wait so long it wouldn’t have progressed to stage three,” he said. Such delays raise concerns that cancers can advance to more dangerous stages while patients wait for diagnosis and treatment.
What trusts say is going wrong
Hospitals acknowledge that demand for testing and care has out-paced capacity. The BBC investigation found reports of broken-down scanning and radiotherapy machines, lost GP referral letters, staffing shortages and last-minute appointment cancellations. For example, one London trust, Royal Free NHS Trust (ranked 109 / 121 for 62-day waits) serves as a specialist kidney-cancer centre yet had a radiotherapy machine that was more than ten years old—the age at which reliability falls markedly. Radiotherapy lead Claire Hartill said: “We can’t deliver the service we want and it can cause delays to patient treatment.”
What the best-performers are doing
On a more positive note, only three trusts met the 62-day standard: Calderdale & Huddersfield NHS Trust, East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust and Bolton NHS Foundation Trust. Among their common features: streamlined patient communication, investment in robotic-surgery and other advanced equipment, and treatment pathways where from the moment of diagnosis patients meet both surgeon and oncologist on the same day. One patient at East and North Hertfordshire had his procedure scheduled over a weekend and left hospital after just one night thanks to robotic surgery. Another initiative there enabled certain chemotherapy treatments to be conducted at home — freeing hospital capacity for more urgent cases.
Government response and upcoming cancer-strategy
The government acknowledges that waits are too long and says it is investing to improve performance. A new 10-year strategy for cancer care is expected to be published early next year and the current health-department spokeswoman said cancer care is a “core priority” in the 10-year NHS plan. The department says it is building more community-diagnostic centres, offering evening and weekend appointments, and spending £70 million on new radiotherapy machines to reduce delays.
The delays in cancer-care targets in England are not new. Researchers note that performance on the 62-day target has declined since 2010–11, when around 88 % of patients were treated within 62 days — by 2022–23 this had fallen to as low as 64 % in some years. The decline began before the COVID‑19 pandemic, though the pandemic significantly worsened diagnostic and treatment back-logs. A 2024 study concluded that “the number of hospital trusts meeting the 2-week-wait, 31-day and 62-day standards all declined over time.” Further, the standards themselves were reviewed and simplified in October 2023 to reflect more meaningful metrics for patients.
Why this matters now and what’s at stake
The fact that only 3 of 121 trusts achieved the 62-day benchmark underscores a systemic crisis in cancer care waiting-times in England. With research linking each month of delay to a significant survival disadvantage, the human cost is potentially severe. Patients whose tumours progress or metastasise during waiting may face more complex treatment, worse outcomes and higher mortality. The current capacity constraints—staff, equipment, diagnostics—mean that without major investment and reform, the situation risks further deterioration rather than improvement.
Final thoughts and what to watch
The coming cancer strategy will be a key moment: will the government provide the resources, hospital trusts the leadership, and diagnostics deliver the turnaround needed? Observers say that incremental tweaks won’t suffice: what is required is system-wide investment in staffing, machines, diagnostics, streamlined pathways and patient communication. Given that survival rates lag behind many comparable countries, the failure to meet waiting-time targets is more than a statistic — it is a question of lives saved or lost. Future reports will need to show not just percentage targets but real-world reductions in delays and improved outcomes across all English trusts.
