Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the reasons for (a) the NHS and (b) individual NHS trusts not meeting the target of 85 per cent of patients starting treatment for cancer within 62 days of an urgent GP referral for suspected cancer.

No formal assessment has been made on the reasons for the National Health Service and individual NHS trusts not meeting the target of 85% of patients starting treatment for cancer within 62 days of an urgent general practitioner (GP) referral for suspected cancer.

There has been a continuing rise in demand for cancer services, with urgent GP referrals for cancer rising by over 70,000 compared to last year (2016-17 compared to 2017-18).

Achieving the 62-day standard was a key objective in the Government’s mandate to NHS England for 2017-18 and this has been rolled forward into 2018-19. The NHS is committed to achieving the 62-day cancer waiting times standard, and to maintaining performance against the other cancer waiting times standards. It is investing this year in initiatives to recover and maintain the 62-day standard nationally, such as pathway coordinators and timed, standardised pathways.