Despite being one of the country’s leading centres for cancer treatment, Guildford’s Royal Surrey Hospital has been told it is not treating patients quickly enough.
Macmillan Cancer Support says the Government needs to pull cancer care out of a
“permanent state of crisis”.
New figures from NHS England show cancer patients at the Guildford Hospital are not being seen nearly quickly enough. 85% of cancer patients with an urgent referral should start treatment within 62 days, but data reveals just 82% of cancer patients urgently referred to the RSCH in January began treatment within two months of their referral.
That was down from 87% in December but up from 70% in January 2023.
The Waverley Web has been contacted by local patients undergoing treatment there, who have been surprised at the number of people travelling to Guildford for cancer treatment from as far away as Swansea in South Wales.
The proportion of patients in England waiting longer than 62 days in January from an urgent suspected cancer referral or consultant upgrade to their first definitive treatment for cancer was 62%, down from 66% in December and below the target of 85%.
Minesh Patel, head of policy at Macmillan Cancer Support, said
“These delays “can’t go on. Healthcare professionals are doing all they can but are working in a permanent state of crisis.If the UK Government acts now, we can turn this around and ensure our cancer system is fit for purpose in the years to come.We need a long-term cancer strategy in England that provides the investment and focus needed so that everybody with a cancer diagnosis gets the timely and quality care they deserve.”
Professor Pat Price, who co-founded the #CatchUpWithCancer campaign, described the situation as “a disaster for cancer patients” and called for “a radical new cancer plan and a clear implementation plan to improve waiting times and cancer survival”.
A separate NHS target aims for 75% of patients with suspected cancer to be diagnosed or have the disease ruled out within 28 days – at the Royal Surrey County Hospital, 84% of patients were seen within that timeframe.
Across England, 71% of patients urgently referred were given a conclusive diagnosis, down from 74% the previous month and below the target of 75%.
GPs across England made 250,000 urgent cancer referrals in the month, up from 220,000 in December and 228,000 in January 2023.
An NHS spokesperson said:
“The NHS is seeing and treating record numbers of people for cancer, with 30% more people being treated last year than in 2015-16 and almost 3 million people receiving potentially lifesaving cancer checks in the last 12 months, ensuring more people than ever before have been diagnosed at an early stage and cancer survival is at an all-time high.It is vital that people come forward if they are concerned about cancer symptoms – getting checked early saves lives.”
NHS data shows the turnover rate for Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust’s cancer workforce was 12%, with 61 staff leaving in the year to September 2022. This is slightly up from 11.9% the year before.
Despite this, the figures also show that trust recorded a 16.5% joiner rate in 2022, with 84 people entering the workforce.
I received exemplary treatment at the Royal Surrey for the treatment of a cancer, but that was 7 years ago. Even so, the statistics quoted here show that they are just about up with their targets although they will always strive to better them. Government statistics are always very selective and trying to reassure the voting fodder that all is well and that it isn’t their fault that the odd glitch may occur. This, however, is indicative of how they have let the whole of the NHS fall into such a state of decay that soon the only solution will be to extend the partial privatisation which exists now to total privatisation so that their wealthy donors can line their pockets with more public money. The staffing statistics don’t seem untoward in the present job market – the days of jobs for life (ie expertise) have long gone, which is why staff mobility is necessary to progress in life.
The Government and bureaucracy put the NHS into a permanent crisis by not training enough clinicians. The NHS was set up on the basis that everyone pays now too few pay. Fortunately the NHS delivers because of the professional competence of its overloaded medical teams. The NHS is in a crisis because it is not funded equitably and there is an absence of competent strategic management.
It is also in crisis because it hasn’t learned that very valuable lesson. Look after those who look after us. Some of the treatment dealt to those at the coalface working in the the NHS is scandalous. When will they ever learn? The NHS is running on goodwill. When that goes – we are doomed.