Inverse Diagnostic Law
Individuals who need cancer care the most are often the least likely to receive it.
If you fell, twisted your ankle and couldn't weight bear, you’d probably make your way to the local emergency department. However, imagine when you got there, they said, "We think you may have broken your ankle, but you’ll have to wait 28 days for any investigations and treatment."
Well, that’s exactly what’s happening if your GP refers you for a cancer diagnosis, as half of urgent cancer diagnoses fail to meet the target time frame. NHS England aims to diagnose or rule out cancer for 75 per cent of people within 28 days of an urgent referral. Yes, you have that right - NHS England thinks it's OK for 1 in every four patients to wait more than a month.
However, it gets worse with the latest Cancer Research UK report that reveals only 75% people urgently referred had cancer ruled out within 28 days. In contrast, for ruling in a cancer diagnosis, only 57 per cent were seen in 2021 within the target 28 days, which fell to 52% in the middle of last year.
Believe it or not, the “urgent referr…
