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Dept of Health

Answer

Mrs. Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what plans he has to publish information on waiting times for treatment of cancers not covered by NHS Cancer Plan targets before 2005; [157771] (2) what progress has been made towards meeting the targets for cancer treatment in the NHS Cancer Plan. [157773] Miss Melanie Johnson: The primary purpose of the NHS Cancer Plan is to save more lives. Reducing waiting times is key to achieving this. The ultimate goal in the NHS Cancer Plan is to offer patients a maximum one month wait from an urgent referral for suspected cancer to the beginning of treatment. Where patients wait longer, this should be because of the needs of the diagnostic process or their personal choice, not because of in-built delays in the system of care. We hope to achieve this goal by 2008. Current waiting times targets are milestones towards this. Data on achievement of current targets from urgent general practitioner referral to treatment for acute leukaemia, children's and testicular cancers and breast cancer and from diagnosis to treatment for breast cancer, are published quarterly on the Department's website for strategic health authorities and trusts, at: http://www.performance.doh.gov.uk/cancerwaits. Data on achievement of future cancer plan waiting times targets of one month from diagnosis to treatment and two months from urgent general practitioner referral to treatment for all cancers will be published once these targets have been implemented in 2005.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

418 c1157-8W;418 c1173-4W; 157771;157773

Session

2003-04

Subjects

Cancer Administrative delays Medical treatments Standards

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk