Breast cancer diagnosis delays worsen at trust

2 hours ago

Jason Arunn MurugesuNorth East and Cumbria

News image — The vast majority of patients at the Durham and Darlington trust received their breast cancer results within the target time

Getty Stock image of a grey-haired woman with a nurse in a blue unform. The woman is wearing a white medical gown and standing sideways by medical equipment. She is being helped by the nurse who is wearing white gloves. The woman looks nervous. You can only see the back of the nurse's head. — The vast majority of patients at the Durham and Darlington trust received their breast cancer results within the target time

An NHS trust is failing meet target times for providing patients with the results of their breast cancer tests.

NHS England's faster diagnosis standard (FDS) states trusts should ensure that at least 80% of patients are told whether they have cancer within 28 days of an urgent referral.

But the latest figures show County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust's (CDDFT) breast cancer service has been failing to meet this standard for months and, in April, fewer than 1 in 10 patients were given a diagnosis within the expected period.

The trust's acting chief operating officer Matt Graham apologised and said more staff and services are coming on line.

Figures published by the NHS, which include both provisional and final statistics, show that the CDDFT's breast cancer service has been failing to meet the standard since March 2025.

Moreover, the trust appears to be getting worse at meeting this target.

For example in July 2025 about 34% of the service's patients were told whether they had breast cancer or not in the expected timespan, but in April 2026 just 9% were.

Meanwhile the national average for the standard in April for breast cancer results following an urgent referral was 84.7%.

The trust is currently undergoing a major review into its breast cancer service following an investigation which found multiple failings including missed cancers and unnecessary mastectomies.

Graham said: "We... recognise that too many patients are currently waiting longer than they should following an urgent suspected cancer referral.

"To reduce the delays, we have increased the number of One Stop Breast Cancer clinics per week."

He said provisional figures for May 2026 suggested 34% of the trust's patients had been told whether they had breast cancer or not within the FDS target.

"We know this remains well below where we want it to be for our patients but it shows that the actions are beginning to make a difference," he said.

"But there is more to do and, following recruitment, we have further increases in capacity planned in September."