Diagnostic and cancer waiting times for July 2024

Diagnostic waiting times 

• 17% of patients waited over 6 weeks for a CT or MRI scan, equivalent to over 81,000 people, missing the target for just 1% of patients to wait more than 6 weeks.
• This has remained fairly static over the past few months, and 1 percentage point lower than in July 2023 but 5 percentage points lower than July 2022. 
•  383 additional diagnostic radiologists would be needed to clear the 6-week wait in one month, equivalent to a 9% increase in the workforce. 

Cancer waiting times 

62-day from referral to treatment

• 68% of patients were treated within 62 days of referral, significantly missing the 85% target. 
• This means that nearly 10,000 patients (9,398) started their treatment over two months after their referral – the second highest on record. 
• Radiotherapy is the key driver of poor performance. 36% of patients received radiotherapy within 62 days of a referral, against an 85% target. SACT = 64% and surgery = 69%. 

31-day wait from decision to treat to treat 

• 8% of patients waited over 31 days to start treatment following decision to treat, missing the target that 96% of patients are treated within this window. 
• This means that over 4,700 patients waited over a month to start their treatment after the decision had been agreed with their doctor. 
• Over the past five years, this figure has gradually worsened, In July 2021, 95% of patients were seen within the 31-day timeframe compared to 91% in 2024. 
• This is largely driven by surgery (14% of patients > 31 days) and radiotherapy (10% of patients > 31 days).

28-day Faster Diagnosis Standard

• 76% of patients were told their cancer diagnosis outcome within 28 days of the scan, hitting the 75% target. 
• Over 69,000 patients were told the outcome of their scan after 28 days of the test.