Hospital fourth-worst for cancer waiting times

A Norfolk hospital has been ranked as one of the worst in England for cancer waiting times.

Just 54.2% of patients began treatment within 62 days of their referral to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) in King's Lynn last year- the fourth-lowest among 119 acute NHS trusts.

In December, it was ranked the worst-performing in the country across all areas.

QEH's interim chief operating officer Richard Parker said improving cancer waiting times was "an absolute priority".

The NHS has a long-standing target for 85% of patients to wait no more than 62 days from their cancer referral being received to starting treatment.

Figures for 2025 reveal a wide variation among trusts in England, with nearly all missing the target. Some people faced extremely long waits of more than 104 days - including 14.5% of patients at the QEH.

The hospital's performance had also dipped since 2024, when 61.3% of patients were seen within 62 days.

Parker added: "We know that every cancer referral represents a person and a family living with worry and uncertainty.

"We are not where we want to be.

"Our performance can be volatile and affected by capacity pressures, but that does not change our responsibility to improve and to do so quickly.

"We have a clear and focused recovery plan in place, with action across diagnostics, clinical decision-making and treatment pathways to reduce delays and increase capacity.

"Progress is being reviewed closely at executive level to ensure we improve cancer services for every patient we treat."

Just three trusts – Calderdale & Huddersfield (seeing 89.2% of patients within 62 days), Homerton Healthcare (85.8%) and Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells (85.7%) –met or exceeded the target last year.

The Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital was not far behind the QEH, with a figure of 57.6% – albeit faring better than in 2024 (52.1%).

Its chief operating officer, Chris Cobb, said: "We recognise how frustrating and difficult it is for patients who are waiting for cancer treatment and we have a cancer improvement plan in place to reduce the time patients wait for investigations and treatment."

It said it saw its highest 62-day performance in over five years in December, but understood "we still have more work to do".

The county's other acute hospital, the James Paget in Gorleston-on-Sea, was mid-table, with 68.5%, which was also an improvement on last year (65.2%).

It said it was increasing MRI scanning to support faster diagnosis, and oncology and dermatology consultant provision.

The bottom five performing trusts were Mid & South Essex (45.4%), Sheffield Teaching Hospitals (50.1%), Hull University Teaching Hospitals (53.1%), the QEH (54.2%) and Guy's & St Thomas' in London (55.1%).

Reacting to the national figures, Cancer Research UK said waiting time targets could not be achieved at the current rate of progress, with more investment needed in workforce and equipment.

An NHS spokesman said it was seeing and treating record numbers of patients for cancer but that too many people were experiencing "unacceptably long waits" for their first treatment.

"Our landmark National Cancer Plan sets out a clear roadmap to ensuring we are meeting all three cancer standards to see and treat patients on time over the next three years, with further improvements to make care more personalised and significantly improve survival," they added.

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