Across England, patients facing the anxiety of a potential cancer diagnosis are encountering waits of more than 100 days to begin treatment, as an overwhelming majority of NHS hospital trusts fail to meet crucial waiting time targets. In December 2025 alone, one in six patients beginning treatment at Hull University Teaching Hospitals and Mid and South Essex NHS Trust had waited over 104 days since an urgent referral, with similar prolonged delays seen at other major trusts.
The Elusive Target
The NHS has a long-standing standard that 85% of patients should start treatment within 62 days of an urgent referral for suspected cancer. This benchmark has not been met nationally since 2014, and the scale of the failure is now stark. In 2025, only three out of 119 acute trusts with comparable data actually achieved this target: Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust (89.2%), Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (85.8%), and Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust (85.7%).
The government set an interim goal of 75% of patients being treated within 62 days by March 2026, but this too is being missed. Last year, only about a quarter of trusts (33 out of 119) managed to hit this lower bar, a slight increase from 29 trusts in 2024. Nationally, 69.1% of patients (239,038 out of 345,847) began treatment within the 62-day period in 2025, a marginal improvement from 67.7% the year before, analysis of NHS England figures shows.
Trusts Under the Spotlight
Performance varies drastically. At the very bottom, Mid & South Essex NHS Trust treated only 45.4% of patients within 62 days in 2025, and also had 17.0% of patients waiting over 104 days for treatment that December. This trust has been consistently among the worst performers, and an investigation followed a patient’s death in 2023 after delays of 49 days to diagnosis and 81 days to treatment there.
Other major trusts are also struggling severely. Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust saw just 50.1% of patients treated on time, with 14.9% waiting over 104 days. Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust achieved 53.1% within 62 days, with 16.5% enduring waits beyond 104 days. Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust treated 55.1% on time in 2025, down from 47.7% in 2024, and had 15.5% of patients waiting over 104 days last December. Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn recorded 54.2% within 62 days and 14.5% over 104 days, while University Hospitals of Leicester had 13.7% of patients waiting over 104 days.
In contrast, Homerton Healthcare not only met the 62-day standard but also excels in other measures, achieving a 79.4% rate for diagnosing patients or giving the all-clear within 28 days, and treating 100% of patients within 31 days of a decision to treat.
The Human and Clinical Cost
Doctors warn that these delays are not merely administrative. They mean some patients’ cancers progress to later stages by the time they are seen, often necessitating additional or more invasive treatments, which piles further pressure on services. Research suggests that even a four-week delay in cancer treatment is associated with a 6-8% increased risk of death, with longer delays being more detrimental.
This is happening against a backdrop of rising need. More people than ever are being diagnosed with cancer—over 354,820 cases in 2023, compared to 327,174 before the pandemic—driven by improved early diagnosis and more treatment options. While survival rates have improved and cancer death rates have decreased by 22% in the past 50 years, the system is failing to keep pace with treatment timelines. Analysis by Cancer Research UK for The Independent indicates that 100,000 more people waited longer than the 62-day target in 2025 compared to previous years.
Systemic Challenges and the Road Ahead
Experts point to long-term underfunding of cancer services and critical shortages in the NHS workforce and equipment as root causes. The UK lags behind countries like Germany, Sweden, and Italy in cancer outcomes and in the availability of diagnostic scanners. The pandemic’s impact, which led to cancellations and deferrals of cancer treatments, further strained the system, with services supposed to be fully restored by March 2021.
In response, the NHS points to its landmark National Cancer Plan, which sets out a roadmap to meet all cancer waiting time standards over the next three years, with an ultimate goal within the government’s 10-year plan to hit all targets by 2029. An NHS spokesman said the service is treating record numbers but acknowledged “there are still too many people experiencing unacceptably long waits for their first treatment,” pledging further improvements to personalise care and improve survival.
Monitoring this crisis is the national Cancer Waiting Times system, which collects data from NHS providers and is undergoing migration in 2026. While waiting time standards vary across the UK’s devolved nations, all have a 62-day standard from referral to treatment. For patients in England enduring these waits, they have a legal right to choose their hospital for non-urgent treatment and can check waiting times via the My Planned Care website, a small recourse in a system under profound pressure.
