Annual waiting lists for cancer treatment on the NHS are on course to be the worst on record, figures suggest.
From the start of the year to July, 133,843 cancer patients in England did not start treatment within the recommended 31 days of therapy being decided.
Las month just 78.2 per cent began treatment within two months of being urgently referred by their GP rather than the target of 85 per cent, NHS England data shows.
On the back of the figures, Tom Sandford, the England director of the Royal College of Nursing, said the NHS is ‘buckling under the strain’.
Waiting lists for cancer treatment on the NHS are set to be the worst on record (stock)
Between April and September, the NHS treated the lowest or joint lowest number of patients in eight out of nine cancer targets since they were introduced in 2012-13.
And more patients missed out on timely treatment than in 2012-to-2015 combined, the figures show.
Between July and September, 93.5 per cent of patients had surgery within a month of the decision to operate being made.
This was the first time the target of operating on 94 per cent of patients within 31 days was missed, with 897 patients being forced to wait.
Rose Gray, from Cancer Research UK, said the figures are particularly ‘worrying’ given that surgery can be life-saving for cancer sufferers.
She added the data highlights the pressures facing the NHS.
The figures also show the target of treating 85 per cent of patients within 62 days of an urgent GP referral was missed for the 33rd consecutive month in October.
From July-to-September, 78.6 per cent of patients – 8,836 – failed to be treated within this timeframe.
Since the target was first missed in January 2014, a total of more than 118,000 patients have had to wait.
Dr Fran Woodard, the executive director of policy and impact at Macmillan Cancer Support told, The Guardian: ‘These figures are further evidence of a worrying trend which demonstrates that the pressure on cancer services is truly beginning to bite.
‘We must not forget that at the heart of these figures are thousands of cancer patients anxiously waiting for referral for diagnosis or to start treatment.’
She stressed the Government must invest in recruiting cancer specialists.
Delyth Morgan, the chief executive at Breast Cancer Now, said it must invest £39million into recruitment to enable breast services alone to cope with rising demand over the next decade.
Mr Sandford added a £1billion investment into nursing education is needed.
He also referenced a cancer centre in Essex that recently announced it may have to close due to a lack of specialist nurses.
‘Everywhere you look you see our healthcare system buckling under the strain,’ he said.
An NHS spokesperson said greater awareness means more patients are seeing their GPs for cancer checks, which results in the health service treating more people.
NHS England recently announced a £10m cash injection to treat the extra patients coming forward, the spokesperson added.
One in two people born after 1960 in the UK will develop cancer at some point in their lives, according to figures.
This comes after leading doctors warned NHS emergency services in England are struggling to cope with a ‘year round crisis’ that is damaging patient care.
Patients even received worse care last summer than in five of the eight most recent winters, NHS England figures revealed earlier this month.