Three in four English hospitals failing to hit two cancer targets in league tables

Three in four NHS hospital trusts are failing cancer patients, according to the first league tables of their kind, prompting experts to declare a “national emergency”.

Labour published the first league tables to rank hospitals in England since the early 2000s this week. The overall rankings score trusts based on a range of measures including finances and patient safety, as well as how they are bringing down waiting times for operations and in A&E, and improving ambulance response times.

Guardian analysis of the underlying data has found that about three-quarters of trusts are failing to hit either of the two cancer targets in the tables.

Ninety of the 118 trusts (76%) are missing the first target of ruling cancer in or out within 28 days of urgent referrals in at least 80% of cases.

The analysis also reveals that 86 of the 118 trusts (73%) are failing to hit the second cancer target measured in the tables, of starting treatment within 62 days in 75% of patients.

Delaying cancer diagnosis or treatment can lead to worse outcomes for patients, fewer options for tackling the disease, and earlier death. 

Cancer experts said they were alarmed by the Guardian’s findings. Paula Chadwick, the chief executive of the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation, said: “Three-quarters of NHS hospitals failing to meet cancer targets is nothing short of a national emergency.

“Behind every missed target is a person left waiting, a family left in limbo, and lives put at greater risk because the system simply isn’t moving fast enough. Cancer does not wait. Delays in diagnosis and treatment cost lives – it’s as stark as that.”

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Source: The Guardian, 15 September 2025