Figures analysed for 2025 reveal a wide variation among trusts in England, with some patients facing extremely long waits of more than 104 days
Almost all NHS trusts are missing a major cancer target, with some of the worst performers seeing only around half of patients on time, data shows.
Figures analysed for 2025 reveal a wide variation among trusts in England, with some patients facing extremely long waits of more than 104 days.
The NHS has a long-standing target for 85% of patients to wait no more than 62 days from their cancer referral being received to starting treatment.
This target has not been met at a national level since 2014. The Government has also set an interim target of March 2026 for this figure to reach 75%.
The new analysis of NHS England figures shows just three of 119 acute trusts with comparable data hit or surpassed the 85% target last year, while only around a quarter made it above 75%.
The three managing to meet the 85% target in 2025 were Calderdale and Huddersfield (89.2% of patients), Homerton Healthcare (85.8%) and Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells (85.7%).
The bottom five performing trusts were Mid & South Essex (seeing just 45.4% of patients within 62 days), Sheffield Teaching Hospitals (50.1%), Hull University Teaching Hospitals (53.1%), Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn (54.2%) and Guy’s & St Thomas’ in London (55.1%).
Across England as a whole, 69.1% of patients (239,038 out of 345,847) began cancer treatment within 62 days last year, up slightly from 67.7% (221,380 out of 327,221) in 2024, but well below the target.
Some 65 of the 119 trusts saw a rise year on year in the percentage of patients seen within 62 days, while 54 saw a fall.
Four trusts made it above 85% in 2024 compared with three in 2025, with Calderdale and Huddersfield topping the list in both years.
Michelle Mitchell, chief executive of Cancer Research UK, said: “Every cancer patient deserves access to timely, high-quality care.
“Although NHS staff are working hard to cope with increasing pressure on cancer services, far too many people still face unacceptable delays for vital treatment.
“The UK Government has set an important commitment to meet all cancer waiting times targets in England by 2029, but this can’t be achieved at the current rate of progress.
“More investment in NHS workforce and equipment will be crucial to deliver genuine change for patients across the country.”
Analysis also shows that in a handful of trusts, at least one in seven patients who began cancer treatment in December 2025 had been waiting more than 104 days since an urgent referral.
At University Hospitals of Leicester, 13.7% of patients starting treatment in December had waited this long, as well as 14.5% of patients at Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn, 14.9% at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals and 15.5% at Guy’s and St Thomas’.
The proportion was as high as one in six patients at Hull University Teaching Hospitals (16.5%) and Mid and South Essex (17.0%).
Bea Taylor, fellow at the Nuffield Trust think tank, said the NHS “often struggles” to sustain progress on improving cancer waiting times, but “there isn’t time for stagnation” as trusts work towards the 85% target.
“For this to be achieved there is still a considerable gap to close, and the NHS will need to keep up momentum and build on it, instead of fluctuating throughout the year,” she said.
An NHS spokesman said: “The NHS is seeing and treating record numbers of patients for cancer, with more than three quarters of people receiving a diagnosis or all clear within four weeks, but there are still too many people experiencing unacceptably long waits for their first treatment.
“Our landmark National Cancer Plan sets out a clear roadmap to ensuring we are meeting all three cancer standards to see and treat patients on time over the next three years, with further improvements to make care more personalised and significantly improve survival.”