NHS cancer patients have had to wait more than 18 months for treatment or diagnosis, shocking figures reveal.
Data for 2022 shows someone in Somerset waited about a year and eight months for a test or scan. It should only be two weeks.
It took a year-and-a-half for a patient elsewhere to start treatment.
Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who has recovered from kidney cancer, said: “How can the Tories claim our public services are in good shape when cancer patients are left waiting months and even years, while their cancer could be spreading?
“I know from my own experience that every second counts.”
At least 85% of patients should start treatment for cancer within two months of an urgent GP referral.
This target has not been met for a single month since 2015. Most of the NHS trusts that provided figures said at least one patient waited more than six months to start treatment.
Around 500,000 suspected cancer patients waited longer than the recommended two weeks to see a specialist after being referred by a GP. Someone in Lincolnshire had to wait almost a year.
Figures for 2021 show someone waited almost three years for a diagnosis or to have cancer ruled out.
The NHS standard says at least 75% of patients should get this information within a month. Labour asked NHS trusts in England under the Freedom of Information Act about the longest waits in recent years. Data from 74 trusts showed, as of January, patients waiting up to nine months for tests or a scan.
NHS Providers, which represents hospital leaders, called for more staff and investment to reduce delays.
The Tory Party said: “We are cutting NHS waiting lists so people get the care they need, including by recruiting a record number of doctors and nurses, and investing an extra £45.6billion into health and social care.”
The Department of Health said: “The NHS has been treating record numbers of patients for cancer over the last two years. Over nine in 10 patients are starting cancer treatment within one month, and the number of patients waiting more than 18 months for care has fallen by more than four-fifths since the peak last September.”
