The dire state of NHS cancer care has been starkly highlighted as the Daily Mail exposes every provider failing their patients.

According to NHS guidelines, hospitals are required to meet three critical targets concerning the timely detection of cancer and the swift initiation of treatment.

However, an examination of official NHS data reveals that only two out of 135 providers have managed to achieve all three targets so far in 2025.

Among the worst performers, the Mid and South Essex Trust did not meet any of these targets from January to August this year.

In response, charities, healthcare experts, and Members of Parliament have called for immediate measures to address what has been termed a ‘national emergency.’

Esteemed oncologist Professor Karol Sikora, who previously led the World Health Organization’s cancer program, has condemned the situation as a ‘total disgrace.’

He told the Mail: ‘All we get are ridiculous press releases about new ways of using old drugs and very expensive new therapies.

‘But the reality is that people are dying because of constant delays in getting to the front of the queue. In the US they’d sue.’

The three NHS targets – which are all being failed across England – are:

• 75% of patients are diagnosed or have disease ruled out within 28 days of being urgently referred (74.6% in August);
• 96% of diagnosed patients start treatment within 31 days of doctors deciding a treatment plan (91.6% in August);
• 85% of patients are diagnosed and start treatment within 62 days of an urgent referral (69.1% in August).

Nationally, the 31 and 62-day cancer targets haven’t been hit since in April 2021.

Professor Sikora added: ‘A two-month wait as a target is ridiculously long and that’s not even being met as you can see.

‘Even in Poland, the target from diagnosis to treatment is seven days.

‘The solution is blindingly obvious – we need to fast track potential cancer patients.’ 

Of the two providers to have met all three targets each month in 2025, just one is a typical NHS trust – Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust.

The other is the Walton Centre, a specialist treatment centre in Liverpool.

Our investigation, using monthly statistics from NHS England, included private sites carrying out NHS work. Providers who reported fewer than six months of stats were excluded.

Charities claim declining numbers of staff, combined with the knock-on effects of Covid and strikes, have created a perfect storm.

The backlog grew rapidly during the pandemic as routine services were dented by efforts to control the virus.

On the 31-day target, 30 sites have managed to hit that goal every month in 2025. 

One third haven’t managed to reach it at all, however. 

Liverpool Women’s Foundation Trust scored just 55.2% on that particular measure in January – the worst score this year across the country.

On the 28-day target, six providers – Mid and South Essex, Northern Lincolnshire and Goole, Royal United Bath, Queen Elizabeth King’s Lynn, Warrington and Halton and York and Scarborough – missed the goal every month this year.  

Conversely, one third consistently hit it. 

Figures showed the lowest one-month score across any provider was the Bradford Teaching Hospitals Trust, with just 40.9% in August. 

And on the 62-day target, 108 trusts missed the target every month. Only three hit it consistently.

The Royal Papworth Hospital Trust achieved just 17.5% on that target in January – the lowest figure in England across the entire year. 

NHS bosses argue they are seeing more patients than ever as part of the fight against cancer, despite the slump in performance.

Urgent referrals have doubled in a decade, largely down to government awareness campaigns urging patients to come forward with suspected symptoms. 

Survival rates are also at an all-time high thanks to medical advances and schemes designed to spot the disease early, when it is easier to treat.

Such programmes include pop-up diagnostic centres in shopping centres, car parks and football grounds.

The UK has some of the worst cancer survival rates in the developed world, according to a 2024 paper by the Less Survivable Cancers Taskforce. 

It found that five-year survival rates for six different types, including lung, liver and brain, are at just 16%. 

The taskforce calculated that if people in the UK suffering these ailments sought treatment in the high-scoring healthcare systems of Korea, Belgium, Australia or China, around 8,000 lives could be saved annually. 

Cameron Miller, deputy chair of the Less Survivable Cancers Taskforce, said: ‘Any delay in cancer treatment can be distressing, but for the more than 90,000 people diagnosed each year in the UK with a less survivable cancer – those of the brain, liver, lung, oesophagus, pancreas and stomach – lost time can be devastating.

‘These cancers progress rapidly, so early diagnosis and swift access to treatment are absolutely critical.

‘With five-year survival rates already below 20%, the situation for these patients is urgent. The Government’s new cancer plan must tackle these delays head-on, particularly for the less survivable cancers.’

On the whole, however, the death rate from all cancers has fallen by nearly a quarter (22%) from around 328 per 100,000 people in 1973 to roughly 252 per 100,000 in 2023.

Labour is set to roll out a new, multi-billion pound patient information management system over the coming years named Cancer 360 to try and tackle the waiting time backlog.

Around one in two people are expected to be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives, according to Cancer Research UK. 

Helen Morgan, Lib Dem health spokesperson, said: ‘Receiving a cancer diagnosis is one of the most terrifying moments of anyone’s life. 

‘After years of neglect under the previous Conservative government, vital services are struggling to provide the treatment and care patients desperately need.

‘Long waits for cancer patients can be the difference between life and death, this is not an issue that ministers can shy away from. 

‘It is now down to the Government to rise to the greatest challenge facing our country, rescuing our NHS. 

‘That means prioritising the NHS, and getting our health service the resources it needs to get patients the life saving care they deserve, so every patient is guaranteed treatment within 62 days.’

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: ‘We are prioritising cancer care as we turn around more than a decade of neglect of the NHS.

‘This is already delivering results, with over 135,000 more people having had cancer diagnosed or ruled out within 28 days between September 2024 and August 2025, compared to the 12 months prior.

‘We’re expanding diagnostic services thanks to a £2.3billion investment, building more surgical hubs and offering evening and weekend appointments. The upcoming National Cancer Plan will set out how we’ll boost survival rates and ensure faster, fairer access to lifesaving treatment.’

An NHS England spokesperson said: ‘While overall data shows that hard-working staff have helped the NHS meet the Faster Diagnosis Standard in the majority of months this year, it is clear we have much further to go to ensure everyone gets high-quality and timely care.

‘The NHS in England is seeing and treating more people with cancer than ever before and we are working closely with government on a new National Cancer Plan to reform services and drive further progress in early diagnosis, survival and patient experience.’

WHAT THE TRUSTS SAID

A Humber Health Partnership spokeswoman said: ‘We accept our performance in achieving national targets for cancer treatment underlines the need for us to do better for the community we serve. We know patients have had to wait too long for treatment and we would like to apologise for any unacceptable delays. We are in the process of changing our approach, empowering our doctors, nurses and other clinical professionals to play direct roles in shaping the care patients receive using innovations in care and technological advances in treatment. Part of this new approach will be looking at increased capacity, such as additional clinical and diagnostic sessions, alongside site-specific treatment so patients are seen and treated by the correct team at an earlier stage. This clinically-led improvement plan aims to tackle immediate problems across cancer services and support our clinicians to deliver safe, effective and compassionate care so our patients can be seen and treated more quickly.’

Chris Bown, interim executive managing director at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn NHS Foundation Trust said: ‘Our patients deserve the highest standards of care, and we are sorry that in some of our performance areas, including cancer, we have fallen short.  We are taking immediate action to address this and have a Cancer Improvement Plan in place. Significant additional funding is being invested to tackle our cancer waits. This has already started and includes using external providers to deliver activity that we do not currently have capacity to provide ourselves with the aim of reducing the time patients wait.’

Matthew Hopkins, chief executive of Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, said: ‘Our patients deserve better and so we are absolutely focussed on improving our position as a Trust. We are increasing the provision of diagnostic tests, outpatient clinics and cancer surgery to reduce the time to diagnosis and treatment. Our recovery plans are already in motion, and we are working closely with NHS England and our wider health and care partners. Our aim is to make rapid, sustainable improvement – cutting waiting lists and continuing to improve the quality of care we provide.’