Statistics » Commissioner-based Cancer Waiting Times for Q4 2011/12

Commissioner-based Cancer Waiting Times for Q4 2011/12

25 May 2012

The latest quarterly statistics on NHS cancer waiting times produced by the Department of Health were released on 25 May 2012 according to the arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority.

Waiting Times for Cancer Services – Quarter Four 2011/12

The key points from the latest release are:

The key results for outpatient services and first definitive treatments show that, for patients whose care was commissioned by the English NHS, during the period January to March 2012:

Two week wait:

96.3% of people were seen by a specialist within two weeks of an urgent GP referral for suspected cancer (96.2% in Q3 2011/12)
96.1% of people urgently referred for breast symptoms (where cancer was not initially suspected) were seen within two weeks of referral (96.3% in Q3 2011/12)

One month (31-day) wait from diagnosis to first definitive treatment:

98.4% of people treated received first definitive treatment within 31 days of receiving their diagnosis, all cancers (98.5% in Q3 2011/12)

Two month (62-day) wait from urgent GP referral to first definitive treatment:

87.1% of people treated received first definitive treatment within 62 days of being urgently referred for suspected cancer by their GP, all cancers (87.8% in Q3 2011/12)

62-day wait extensions:

93.2% of patients began first definitive treatment within 62 days of a consultants decision to upgrade their priority, all cancers (93.5% in Q3 2011/12)
95.7 % of people began first definitive treatment for cancer within 62 days of referral from an NHS cancer screening service, all cancers (94.5% in Q3 2011/12)

The key results for waiting times for second or subsequent treatment for patients whose care was commissioned by the English NHS, during the period January to March 2012:

31-day wait for subsequent treatment:

97.3% of people began treatment within 31 days where the subsequent treatment was surgery (97.6% in Q3 2011/12)
99.7% of people began treatment within 31 days where the subsequent treatment was an anti-cancer drug regimen (99.8% in Q3 2011/12)
97.9% of people began treatment within 31 days where the subsequent treatment was a course of radiotherapy (98.5% in Q3 2011/12)

More detailed commentary and analysis is published below.

Contact address and email

You can obtain further details about the statistics published in this section or comment on the section by contacting the following address:

Cancer Waiting Times Team
Department of Health
Wellington House (Area 411)
133-155 Waterloo Road
London
SE1 8UG
Email: cancer-waits@dh.gsi.gov.uk

Press Release Access List 2011-12 Q4 (PDF, 20K)

Cancer Waiting Times commentary Q4 2011-12 commissioner based data version (PDF, 67K)

Press release Waiting times for suspected cancer patients 2011-12 Q4 (PDF, 36K)

Q4 2011-12 Cancer Waiting Times Workbook Commissioner-based -Revised 18-02-15 (xls 407kB)

CSV Files

31-DAY WAIT FOR FIRST TREATMENT – ALL CANCERS (commissioner data) – REVISED 18-02-15 (csv 19kB)

31-DAY WAIT FOR SECOND OR SUBSEQUENT TREATMENT- ANTI CANCER DRUG TREATMENTS (commissioner data) (CSV, 20K)

31-DAY WAIT FOR SECOND OR SUBSEQUENT TREATMENT- RADIOTHERAPY TREATMENTS (commissioner data) (CSV,18K)