"The cancers with longest treatment waits revealed"

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BAHNO response to BBC news item

22 September 2024

A recent BBC report (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwy948p4j5wo) referencing an analysis by Cancer Research UK highlighted Head & Neck Cancer as having the worst waiting times of all cancers for starting treatment in England.  More than 50% of patients wait more than 62 days to begin treatment. Head & Neck cancer accounts for more than 12,000 new cases per year in England with more than 4000 deaths per year. Unlike most common cancers, there is currently no nationally-commissioned audit for Head & Neck Cancer.  Such prospective data would allow regular monitoring of treatment pathways and disease outcomes.  It is particularly disappointing that following the recommendation for change in cancer wait standards by the Independent Cancer Task force in 2015 and the Clinically Led review of NHS cancer standards, Head & Neck patients continue to experience significant delay in referral, diagnosis and treatment.

The issues of protracted cancer waiting times are complex and lie, in part, with difficult access to primary care GPs, the drastic shortage of NHS dentists and limited resource for investigation and treatment once patients enter secondary care. The system is burdened by a backlog of benign conditions built up during the pandemic and the threshold for referral to secondary care for suspected cancer is variable nationally, meaning most patients (>90%) referred on a suspected cancer pathway do not have cancer. The introduction of the 28 Day Faster Diagnosis Standard (FDS) has not been universally implemented and the shortage of Head & Neck diagnostic imaging specialists, pathologists and oncologists means there are significant delays even after patients are first seen.

In the absence of a centrally funded national audit, The British Association of Head & Neck Oncologists (BAHNO) is part of a large coalition funding a study which should demonstrate the feasibility of a national audit for Head and Neck.  BAHNO is hopeful that the National Head and Neck Cancer Feasibility Study (NaHaNCA) and the potential introduction of a national audit for Head & Neck Cancer will help us understand where our challenges and successes lie.

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