Publish date: 2 April 2025
The Cancer Alliance has received confirmation from the National Cancer Programme in NHS England that West Yorkshire has moved to the top Alliance in England for the Faster Diagnosis Standard, based on January 2025, with performance of 77.6%.
The Faster Diagnosis Standard tracks how quickly patients are either confirmed to have cancer or are excluded from the cancer pathway from the point where they are referred with symptoms. The expectation is that this step is achieved within 28 days and (currently) for at least 77% of patients.
The standard recognises that on some occasions it may be challenging to diagnose or completely exclude cancer as a potential diagnosis, and that allowances are needed for patients who may wish to choose to defer their appointments or who are undergoing treatment and/or investigation for other conditions.
January is typically regarded as one of the most challenging months to deliver this standard, given the issues that colleagues across primary and secondary care face in terms of managing Winter and wider system pressures.
Jason Pawluk, Programme Director of the Cancer Alliance, said: “Delivery of this target in this month reflects the fantastic work of all partners, including clinical and support teams.
“Achieving this standard also helps the local system to expedite care to those patients who, unfortunately are diagnosed with cancer. System 62-day performance, which looks at the total waiting time from the point of referral through to the point of first treatment, has also remained consistently above the 70% planning ambition for several months.
“Whilst there is clearly more work needed to be done, and lots of work is underway to review individual tumour site care pathways, this work is making a positive difference to the experiences of care we can offer to patients who use cancer pathways in our system.”
