Responding to the latest NHS Wales Cancer Waiting Times figures, Rhian Stangroom-Teel, External Affairs Manager Wales, said:
“This week’s significant data releases in Wales are yet more evidence that who you are and where you live heavily influences your experience of cancer. While there have been slight improvements in waiting times compared with the same time last year, far too many people are still facing unacceptably long delays for vital cancer tests and treatment.
“It’s especially painful to see that people who live in the most deprived areas of Wales are significantly more likely to die from cancer than people who live in the least deprived areas, after adjusting for age. Also, the gap is currently bigger than it was 20 years ago.
“It’s urgent that cancer is made a top priority. With the Senedd elections approaching, time is running out to deliver the promises set out in the Cancer Improvement Plan. People in Wales deserve the best treatment possible, no matter who they are or where they live.”
“This week’s significant data releases in Wales are yet more evidence that who you are and where you live heavily influences your experience of cancer. While there have been slight improvements in waiting times compared with the same time last year, far too many people are still facing unacceptably long delays for vital cancer tests and treatment.
“It’s especially painful to see that people who live in the most deprived areas of Wales are significantly more likely to die from cancer than people who live in the least deprived areas, after adjusting for age. Also, the gap is currently bigger than it was 20 years ago.
“It’s urgent that cancer is made a top priority. With the Senedd elections approaching, time is running out to deliver the promises set out in the Cancer Improvement Plan. People in Wales deserve the best treatment possible, no matter who they are or where they live.”
Fact box
- Macmillan’s analysis of the latest official NHS data shows that while performance against the national cancer waiting times target in Wales was worse in April compared with the previous month, it was higher than in the same month last year. The target was still missed by a substantial margin, however, showing NHS cancer services in Wales remain under intense pressure[i].
- In April, almost 800 people with cancer in Wales waited too long to start treatment[ii]
- The proportion of people who waited too long varied from 35% to 47% across local health boards in Wales[iii]
- Waiting times also vary considerably depending on which type of cancer people have. For example, in April 2025 only 37% of people with urological cancer, 43% of those with lower gastrointestinal cancer and 46% of those with gynaecological cancer started their treatment within 62 days from first being suspected of having cancer, compared with 73% of those with breast cancer and 84% of those with skin cancer[iv]
- Recent analysis by Macmillan shows that despite some recent improvements the national cancer waiting times target was missed again in Wales in 2024 as a whole, and average monthly performance in 2024 was still worse than when the target was first introduced in 2021[v]
- Other recent figures from Macmillan Cancer Support show that half of people having cancer treatment in the UK (50%) are worried about general pressures on the NHS affecting their chances of survival[vi]
- Previous Macmillan analysis shows that survival rates for at least two common types of cancer in Wales (colon and rectal cancer in women) are only just now reaching the levels that Sweden and Norway were already achieving in the early 2000s[vii]
- Macmillan’s analysis of other new official data from Public Health Wales shows people who live in the most deprived areas of Wales are significantly more likely to die from cancer than people who live in the least deprived areas after adjusting for age, and the gap is currently bigger than it was 20 years ago even though the overall cancer mortality rate has fallen over this time[viii].
- Official statistics show that in 2024 cancer mortality rates were 52% higher in the most deprived areas of Wales compared with the least deprived, and 147% higher for lung cancer in particular
- In contrast, in 2004 cancer mortality rates were 39% higher in the most deprived areas of Wales compared with the least deprived
References
[i] Figures based on Suspected Cancer Pathways data from StatsWales, accessed 19th June 2025. In April 2025, 60.5% of people with cancer in Wales (1,183 out of 1,956) started their first definitive treatment within 62 days of first being suspected of cancer (target: 75%). Performance in April 2025 was higher than in April 2024 (55.3%)
[ii] As per reference 1. In April 2025 there were 773 people with cancer in Wales who waited more than 62 days to start treatment from first being suspected of having cancer
[iii] As per reference 1. Performance ranged from 53.5% for the Betsi Cadwaladr local health board to 65.3% for Aneurin Bevan. Performance figures are not usually reported for Powys as people with suspected cancer in this local health board area are usually referred to another area for cancer tests and treatments
[iv] As per reference 1
[v] Figures based on Suspected Cancer Pathways data from StatsWales, accessed 20th February 2025. Average performance against the national cancer waiting times target in Wales in 2024 was 57.6%, compared with 56.2% in 2023, 56.2% in 2022 and 63.3% in 2021
[vi] Macmillan Cancer Support/YouGov survey of 2,057 adults in the UK who have had a cancer diagnosis, including 223 people going through treatment. Fieldwork was undertaken between 3rd and 27th January 2025. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of people living with cancer in the UK (aged 18+). Survey question was as follows: How worried, if at all, are you about the following? ‘General pressures on the NHS affecting my chances of survival’
[vii] See this press release for full analysis and sources: Macmillan Cancer Support. UK cancer care ‘stuck in the noughties’. June 2024
[viii] Public Health Wales. Cancer mortality in Wales. Accessed June 2025. Refers to European age-standardised rates for single years; using the three-year rolling average to compare 2002–2004 and 2022–2024 shows a very similar pattern
[ii] As per reference 1. In April 2025 there were 773 people with cancer in Wales who waited more than 62 days to start treatment from first being suspected of having cancer
[iii] As per reference 1. Performance ranged from 53.5% for the Betsi Cadwaladr local health board to 65.3% for Aneurin Bevan. Performance figures are not usually reported for Powys as people with suspected cancer in this local health board area are usually referred to another area for cancer tests and treatments
[iv] As per reference 1
[v] Figures based on Suspected Cancer Pathways data from StatsWales, accessed 20th February 2025. Average performance against the national cancer waiting times target in Wales in 2024 was 57.6%, compared with 56.2% in 2023, 56.2% in 2022 and 63.3% in 2021
[vi] Macmillan Cancer Support/YouGov survey of 2,057 adults in the UK who have had a cancer diagnosis, including 223 people going through treatment. Fieldwork was undertaken between 3rd and 27th January 2025. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of people living with cancer in the UK (aged 18+). Survey question was as follows: How worried, if at all, are you about the following? ‘General pressures on the NHS affecting my chances of survival’
[vii] See this press release for full analysis and sources: Macmillan Cancer Support. UK cancer care ‘stuck in the noughties’. June 2024
[viii] Public Health Wales. Cancer mortality in Wales. Accessed June 2025. Refers to European age-standardised rates for single years; using the three-year rolling average to compare 2002–2004 and 2022–2024 shows a very similar pattern