Cancer waiting times in Wales improve: 31 day waiting time target met

Cancer waiting times have improved in Wales, new figures published today show. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The figures show the Welsh NHS met the 98% target for treating cancer patients within 31 days in December 2015, with 98.9% of people starting treatment within the target time – the best performance recorded since October 2013. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Meanwhile, 86.2% of people started treatment within 62 days of being referred with urgent suspected cancer by their GP – this includes all diagnostic tests and consultations with experts. This is an improvement on November’s figure of 84.3% and is the best performance since July 2015. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The improvements to cancer waiting times come after Deputy Health Minister Vaughan Gething asked each of Wales’ health boards to produce 100-day plans to improve cancer services in October 2015. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Vaughan Gething said: ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

“Over the last year, more than 16,000 people in Wales have been treated for cancer in the Welsh NHS. More than 14,700 were treated within target time – 9,000 within the 31-day target. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

“I’m very pleased the NHS met the 31-day target in December 2015. I expect health boards to ensure this performance continues in the months ahead and improve performance for people on the 62-day pathway.” ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​