Cancer patients at County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust waiting up to 229 days for treatment, as Tories scrap cancer standards

Data sourced by the Labour Party through Freedom of Information requests has revealed patients at County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust are facing long waits for cancer treatment with some patients forced to wait 229 days to start cancer treatment.

Waiting times for cancer patients in England have worsened every year since the Conservatives came to power in 2010. The government is now set to scrap two-thirds of existing cancer waiting times standards for patients this week. The latest figures revealed that the NHS met none of its cancer targets in June 2023.

52 out of the 60 NHS trusts that responded to the FOI saw a patient wait more than half a year to start their treatment in 2022. The NHS standard is for 85 per cent of patients to start treatment within two months of an urgent referral, a target that has not been consistently met since early 2014.

The Labour Party has committed to cut cancer waiting times down to safe levels. The party’s plans to deliver better cancer care include training thousands more doctors and nurses every year, providing NHS staff with up-to-date modern technology, and reforming the health service so it catches cancer earlier.

Easington MP Grahame Morris, said:

“The Conservatives have created a crisis in cancer care, leaving patients waiting dangerously long for a diagnosis or treatment when their cancer could be spreading.

“Instead of addressing the problem, Rishi Sunak has now cynically moved the goalposts. The Prime Minister should focus on cutting waiting times, not cutting standards for patients.

“Labour will get cancer patients diagnosed and treated on time again by training the doctors and nurses the NHS needs and reforming the service to make it fit for the future.”