MORE than 200 cancer patients in Wiltshire waited at least two months to start treatment after being referred by their GP last year,

During the 2017-18 financial year, 1,294 Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) cancer patients were referred to hospital urgently by their doctors, but 212 did not start treatment within 62 days, according to NHS figures.

Government targets say 85 per cent of all referrals should start treatment within two months, to allow for the minority of patients who choose to delay their course of treatment, which may be chemotherapy, surgery or radiation therapy.

In Wiltshire CCG 84 per cent of patients began treatment within two months of an urgent GP referral, slightly below the NHS target.

That is lower than 2016-17, when 85 per cent of patients started treatment two months after referral, which is in line with the NHS target.

Across England more than three quarters of all CCGs are running below the operational target.

The best record is South Cheshire CCG, with 93 per cent, but in Thurrock CCG, Essex, it was just 59 per cent.

Dr Jeanette Dickson, vice president of clinical oncology at the Royal College of Radiologists, said that while the figures “are a cause for concern” they are a slightly crude measure for judging cancer diagnosis.

“In an ideal world we would want it to be 100%,” she said.

However, she explained getting from the GP to treatment is a complicated process requiring many different appointments and staff.

And Dr Dickson said the time periods required for treating different forms of cancer are vastly different.

“With your average male prostate cancer patient, you will do nothing but examine and watch for ten years.

“However, with tongue cancer or aggressive lung cancer you need to start treatment within three weeks otherwise it’s likely the patient will have less chance of surviving.”

Across England the percentage of patients starting treatment within two months has dropped from 87 per cent in 2012-2013 to 82 per cent last year.