LONDON: Ready occasions for most cancers sufferers to start out remedy elevated throughout the UK over the previous 12 years, with a dramatic rise after the COVID-19 pandemic, newest evaluation of well being service knowledge confirmed Friday.
Whereas most cancers wait occasions have been “broadly steady” within the final two years, there was a common upward pattern since 2012, with a pointy rise in 2022 after the pandemic, based on the Workplace of Nationwide Statistics (ONS).
Almost half of all most cancers sufferers in Wales and a 3rd in England needed to wait longer than the beneficial 62-day commonplace time between the illness being detected and the beginning of remedy within the second quarter of 2024.
In Northern Eire, the determine was as excessive as 66% within the newest accessible knowledge from the third quarter of 2023.
Scotland, the place healthcare is devolved to the Scottish authorities, had the bottom price amongst UK nations with just under 30% of sufferers ready longer than 62 days.
Even so, the proportion of sufferers ready had elevated from 5.2% in 2012.
Britain’s Nationwide Well being Service (NHS) is struggling to clear a backlog constructed up throughout the pandemic and worsened by workers shortages and strikes over pay.
A number of research present that delays in most cancers prognosis and remedy can worsen survival outcomes.
