Cancer waiting times
1 July to 30 September 2023
National Statistics Publication
- Published
- 19 December 2023
- Type
- Statistical report
- Author
- Public Health Scotland
About this release
This release by Public Health Scotland (PHS) presents the quarterly update of Cancer Waiting Times statistics, reporting two National Standards on how long patients waited for their first cancer treatment. This release covers patients who started their first treatment by quarter ending 30 September 2023.
Main points
Note that the x-axis has been abridged, with a jump between Q1 2013 and Q1 2019; the unabridged version can be found in the full report.
The 62-day standard states that 95% of eligible patients should wait no longer than 62 days from urgent suspicion of cancer referral to first cancer treatment.
- There were 4,624 eligible referrals for the 62-day standard, an increase of 7.6% from the previous quarter, and an increase of 24.2% from the quarter ending 31 December 2019.
- 72.0% of patients started treatment within the 62-day standard, compared with 73.7% in the previous quarter, and 83.7% in the quarter ending 31 December 2019.
The 62-day standard was not met by any NHS Board.
The 31-day standard states that 95% of eligible patients should wait no longer than 31 days from decision to treat to first cancer treatment.
- There were 7,192 eligible referrals for the 31-day standard, an increase of 5.4% from the previous quarter, and an increase of 12.6% from the quarter ending 31 December 2019.
- 94.9% of patients started treatment within the 31-day standard, compared with 95.2% in the previous quarter, and 96.5% in the quarter ending 31 December 2019.
The 31-day standard was met by 11 of the 15 NHS Boards: Golden Jubilee National Hospital, NHS Ayrshire & Arran, NHS Borders, NHS Dumfries & Galloway, NHS Forth Valley, NHS Highland, NHS Lanarkshire, NHS Orkney, NHS Shetland, NHS Tayside, and NHS Western Isles.
Background
Current standards for cancer waiting times are that 95% of all eligible patients should wait no longer than 31 or 62 days (Action Plan), with 5% tolerance level due to clinical appropriateness.
The 62-day standard applies to patients urgently referred with a suspicion of cancer by a primary care clinician/general dental physician, patients referred by one of the national cancer screening programmes, and direct referrals to hospital where the signs and symptoms are consistent with the cancer diagnosed, as per the Scottish Referral Guidelines e.g. self-referral to A&E.
The 31-day standard applies to all patients, regardless of the route of referral.
Many Boards have highlighted that staffing issues combined with a high number of referrals continue to limit capacity and impact on performance in the latest quarter.
Further information
The next release of this publication will be 26 March 2024.
NHS Performs
A selection of information from this publication is included in NHS Performs. NHS Performs is a website that brings together a range of information on how hospitals and NHS Boards within NHSScotland are performing.
General enquiries
If you have an enquiry relating to this publication, please contact Callum Rintoul at phs.cancerwaitsnew@phs.scot.
Media enquiries
If you have a media enquiry relating to this publication, please contact the Communications and Engagement team.
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Older versions of this publication
Versions of this publication released before 16 March 2020 may be found on the Data and Intelligence, Health Protection Scotland or Improving Health websites.