A PLAN is urgently needed to reduce south Warwickshire NHS cancer treatment wait times, say Lib-Dems.
The call comes after recent NHS data revealed 248 people in the area had to wait more than two weeks to see a cancer specialist after a GP referral. The NHS target is for 93 per cent of patients to see a cancer specialist after a referral, but in south Warwickshire the figure was 85 per cent.
Nationwide, 108 NHS trusts missed the two-week cancer referral target – meaning 62,360 people had to wait more than two weeks to see a cancer specialist after a GP referral in August alone.
Jenny Wilkinson, the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Kenilworth & Southam said the government needed to develop an urgent plan to improve cancer care and protect health services in south Warwickshire.
Mrs Wilkinson told The Observer: “It is deeply upsetting that so many people in south Warwickshire are being let down. Early cancer diagnosis is crucial, and too few are seeing a specialist in good time.
“The government has failed to come up with a proper plan to help people as targets for waiting times are missed month after month.
“Our NHS is being run into the ground, from ballooning ambulance waits to understaffed hospitals, and this Conservative government has done little but shrug its shoulders. It’s just not good enough and people here deserve better.
“We need an urgent plan to improve cancer care and to save our local health services. People are worried sick about what could happen if they get a terrible diagnosis too late. More inaction is not an option.”
