A postcode lottery in cancer care means more than one-fifth of patients with cancerous tumours wait longer than two months to have them removed in some parts of England, Labour has claimed.
Analysis of NHS data exposes regional inequalities in cancer treatments, with one in five patients receiving care following a cancer diagnosis in the West Midlands waiting longer than two months to have their tumours removed.
In Greater Manchester, it is fewer than one in 10, while the average across England was 17.7% of patients waiting longer than two months.
Almost half of patients (43.5%) needing chemotherapy in West Yorkshire and Harrogate are forced to wait longer than two months, more than twice as many as in Oxfordshire and surrounding areas, where one in five wait that long, Labour said, compared with a national average of 34.3%.
The analysis also reveals that patients in more deprived parts of the country are more likely to have their cancer diagnosed late, with 47% of cancer patients in the most deprived communities being diagnosed late, compared with 39% in the least deprived.
An estimated 1,857 cancer patients in the most deprived communities were diagnosed late in March of this year, and more than 9,800 across England.
So far in 2023, more than 95,000 people with an urgent referral for suspected cancer have had to wait more than two weeks to see a consultant, according to the analysis.
The NHS target was that 93% of patients should be seen within two weeks, until the target was scrapped last week. Last year – 2022-23 – was the worst year on record against this target.
Labour has said clearing cancer backlogs and improving survival rates through early diagnosis was a core part of its mission.
Andrew Gwynne MP, the shadow public health minister, said: “Receiving fast and quality cancer care should not depend on your postcode.
“Thirteen years of Conservative mismanagement of the NHS has left the health service unable to be there for too many people when they need it.
“Getting cancer patients treated on time again will be a mission of the next Labour government.”
The analysis is said to be from rapid processing of cancer registration data sources.
Meanwhile, an analysis from the Liberal Democrats found ambulances broke down more than 7,000 times across England in 2022, the equivalent of 19 times a day and up 36% on five years ago.
Data released under Freedom of Information requests to NHS ambulance trusts in England also showed 250 ambulances in operation are more than 10 years old, with the oldest being 14 years old.
Daisy Cooper, the Lib Dem health and social care spokesperson, called on the government to “provide the funding that our emergency services need to keep ambulances on the road”.
She said: “Patients with life-threatening injuries risk being left stranded waiting in pain for an ambulance due to the Conservatives’ mismanagement and neglect of our health services.”
