Expected new standard means patients who have received urgent referral should receive diagnosis in 28 days
The scrapping of a target for patients to see a specialist within two weeks if their GP suspects they have cancer is expected to be confirmed within days under new plans by the NHS in England.
Instead, the new “faster diagnosis standard” proposes that patients who have been urgently referred should have cancer ruled out or receive a diagnosis within 28 days.
Patients who have been urgently referred, have symptoms of breast cancer, or have been picked up through screening, should have cancer ruled out or receive a diagnosis within 28 days, also known as the faster diagnosis standard.
Patients who receive a cancer diagnosis will start treatment within nine weeks from the date of referral, called a 62-day referral to treatment standard.
Cancer patients should receive their first treatment within a month of a decision to treat after diagnosis, which the NHS calls a 31-day decision to treatment standard.
