CANCER waiting time targets are barely being met at Barnsley Hospital, according to new data.
The NHS has introduced a new ‘faster diagnosis standard’ to ensure timely diagnosis - or ruling out - of cancer within 28 days of a GP’s urgent referral in suspected cancer cases.
It’s hoped to reduce anxiety among patients, improve consistency of care across hospitals, and work with the current 62-day referral-to-treatment standard.
But the 75 per cent target has yet to be met nationally, while at Barnsley Hospital, it’s only been reached twice within six months.
In March, 75.3 per cent of 1,165 patients, while the previous month 75 per cent of 1,006 patients were contacted with a diagnosis.
In January, the total stood at just 66.1 per cent of 917 patients.
