Responding to the latest cancer waiting times figures for Northern Ireland, Sarah Christie, External Affairs Manager for Macmillan Cancer Support in Northern Ireland said:
“The cancer waiting times figures released today continue to show a crumbling cancer care system in crisis with hundreds of people across Northern Ireland still waiting too long to be diagnosed and start cancer treatment.
“With the added unprecedented winter ‘intense pressures’ being faced across our trusts, let’s remember, there will be hundreds if not thousands more people with cancer worrying about what 2025 will bring for them and their loved ones.
“Is this the legacy our politicians want to be remembered for, one of inaction when it comes to caring for people with cancer?
“It’s been nearly a year since the return to Stormont and with a new year upon us the Executive has the opportunity to turn things around and start taking the difficult decisions needed to transform our cancer care system.
“They have been clearly told what needs to be done, it’s now time to work collaboratively to implement the much-needed change for everyone in Northern Ireland living with cancer, as a matter of urgency.”
If you or someone you love is affected by cancer, we’re here, whatever you need to ask. Call Macmillan’s free support line on 0808 808 00 00, open every day 8am to 8pm or visit our website at www.macmillan.org.uk.“
For more information please contact: media@macmillan.org.uk
Fact box
- All three national cancer waiting times targets in Northern Ireland were missed again in July to September 2024 and performance was worse than the same time in the previous year for two out of three of the targets, showing that cancer services in Northern Ireland are continuing to struggle under intense pressures[i]
- In July to September 2024, just one in three people (33%) with cancer in Northern Ireland started treatment within 62 days of an urgent GP referral[ii]
- For some cancer types, performance is extremely concerning. For example, in July to September 2024, according to the data available just 15% of people with head and neck cancer, 23% of people with urological cancer, and 27% of people with lower gastrointestinal cancer started treatment within two months of an urgent referral for suspected cancer[iii]
- Macmillan’s previous analysis suggests that 2023 was a new worst year on record for one of the two main cancer waiting times targets in Northern Ireland (the 62-day target), and the second worst year on record for the other (31-day target). In 2023 at least 1,300 people with cancer in Northern Ireland waited more than a month to start treatment following the clinical decision to do so, and at least 3,600 waited more than two months to start treatment following an urgent referral for suspected cancer[iv]
- Other recent analysis by Macmillan shows one-year cancer survival rates in Northern Ireland are lagging up to 15 years behind other European countries[v]
References
[i] Northern Ireland Department of Health. Cancer waiting times. Accessed January 2025. In July to September 2024, performance against both the 62-day target and the 14-day breast target was worse than in the same quarter in 2023 (32.9% compared with 34.0% for the 62-day target and 30.0% compared with 52.9% for the 14-day target), while performance against the 31-day target was the same (87.9% compared with 87.9%)
[ii] As per ref 1. In July to September 2024, only one in three people (32.9%) with cancer who started treatment following an urgent GP referral did so within 62 days. This means that 928 people waited longer than the 62-day target
[iii] As per ref 1.
[iv] As per ref 1. In 2023, average performance against the 62-day target was just 33.9%, the lowest annual average since at least 2008. In 2023, average performance against the 31-day target was 88.0%, the second lowest annual average since at least 2008, after 87.5% in 2022. Between January 2023 and December 2023, 1,344 people waited longer than a month to start treatment following the clinical decision to do so, and 3,603 waited longer than two months to start treatment following an urgent referral for suspected cancer.
[v] Macmillan Cancer Support. UK cancer care ‘stuck in the noughties’. June 2024