More than 20 per cent of cancer patients on the Isle of Wight were still waiting for treatment, two months after an urgent GP referral.
A report, seen by the governing body of the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) last week, revealed 78 per cent of patients were seen within two months of referral.
The target set by the NHS is 85 per cent.
Over 95 per cent of patients received their first treatment within two months, following a consultant’s decision to upgrade the priority of the patient.
Wait time targets for non-urgent medical treatment were also consistently missed.
More than 12 month wait for non-urgent treatment
There were 21 incidents of patients having to wait over a year for non-urgent medical treatment. The target set by the NHS is zero.
There were 11 incidents of patients waiting over 12 hours from the decision to admit to actual admission — known as ‘trolley waits’.
Campaigner: Could be a ‘death sentence’
Christine Lightbody, from the Save Our NHS campaign group, said expecting cancer patients to wait two months for their first treatment could, in some instances, be a ‘death sentence’.
“The strain and stress this will put on people is immense.”
She added:
“The CCG say they wanted our health care to be equivalent to what is on the mainland but this won’t happen if we have these kinds of delays.”
NHS: Working with mainland to improve testing time
A spokesman for Isle of Wight NHS Trust said:
“The figures for April 2017 to March 2018 show that we achieved all our targets for the treatment of patients with cancer apart from patients being treated within 62 days of referral. The ability to consistently meet the 62 day cancer standard is part of a national challenge.
“The Trust is reliant on Portsmouth and Southampton hospitals to provide specialist imaging and diagnostic tests for Island patients. The Trust is working with the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and the two mainland centres to improve access to these tests and reduce current waiting times.
“It should be noted that there has been a significant increase in patient referrals locally and within the Wessex region for the specialist services provided by Portsmouth & Southampton.
“The Trust is being supported by NHS Improvement (NHSI) to identify other areas for improvement to further reduce patient delays and work towards full compliance with the National cancer targets.
“Non-compliance is often due to one or two patient breaches and the Trust would encourage all patients to attend offered appointments in a timely manner. The Trust is developing, a cancer and diagnostics project which will incorporate the recommended improvement actions from the Cancer Deep Dive Report (December 2017).”
Article edit
8.40 4/6/2018 – Response fro NHS added
This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which OnTheWight is taking part in. Some additions by OnTheWight. Ed
Image: © Used with the kind permission of Auntie P
