Cancer patients at risk as waiting times soar
MPS criticise ‘unacceptable and agonising’ delays as two thirds of NHS trusts miss targets for surgery
ALMOST two in three trusts are missing NHS cancer targets amid warnings that patients are being put at risk as waiting times grow longer.
MPS said patients were facing unacceptable and agonising delays, with more than half of trusts also forcing people into long waits for surgery.
A report by the public accounts committee accuses health bodies of “a lack of curiosity” about the risks that patients would come to harm as a result of increasingly long waiting times.
In May The Daily Telegraph revealed NHS negligence payments linked to delays and misdiagnoses had doubled over a five-year period. In 2017-18 the NHS paid £655 million in compensation, up from £327million in 2013-14.
The report today says a key target – for cancer patients to receive treatment within two months – has not been hit since 2013. Last November, just 38 per cent of trusts achieved the standard – and 44 per cent of trusts met targets to operate within 18 weeks.
With more than 4.2 million patients now on waiting lists, MPS fear that NHS England has removed sanctions and penalties for failing to hit targets.
“More and more patients are being let down by the NHS’S continued failure to meet deadlines for waiting times,” the report states. “The national health bodies lack curiosity about the impact for patients of longer waits and how often this leads to patient harm. When waiting times are longer, patients may experience additional pain, anxiety and inconvenience. There is also a risk that longer waiting times may lead to patient harm through, for example, the deterioration of a medical condition.”
MPS said that although trusts could carry out reviews of individual cases, there was no national data collection.
Trusts are only asked to review harms caused to those waiting at least a year for planned treatment, but findings are not reviewed across the country.
Meg Hillier, the accounts committee chairman, said: “It is unacceptable that the proportion of patients being treated within NHS waiting times standards is continuing to spiral downwards; NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care must regain control.
“The impact on individuals of protracted waiting times cannot be ignored. As one charity told us, the wait for cancer testing is agonising.”
She said MPS were troubled by the approach of health officials to waiting times and their lack of understanding about the impact it could have on patients.
NHS England is reviewing waiting times, which could result in the 18week target being axed, along with the flagship four-hour target for A&E departments. Ms Hillier said: “NHS England’s review is now more crucial than ever. However, this cannot be an opportunity for standards to slip. Changes must protect and improve patient outcomes.”
Rachel Power, of the Patients Association, said: “This is a deeply concerning problem with serious consequences for patient care, and it is simply unacceptable for patients to be left in limbo in this way.
“Longer waits always mean more time spent in pain and discomfort, but for some procedures they also reduce the good that the treatment is likely to do for the patient – this must be understood in terms of human cost.”