The Department of Health today published National Statistics on cancer waiting times for the quarter ending December 2023.
This release gives details of the waiting times for patients accessing cancer services at hospitals in Northern Ireland during October, November and December 2023.
On 9 November 2023 the South Eastern Health and Social Care (HSC) Trust launched "Encompass" - a new electronic patient record system. Its roll out across the other Trusts will follow on a phased basis throughout 2024/25. Consequently, the data for South Eastern Trust was not available at the time of this publication, as the Trust transitions to completely digitised health records. Therefore, charts and figures presented throughout this report have excluded patients seen or treated in the South Eastern Trust to allow comparisons to be made for the four remaining HSC Trusts compared with previous time points. As such, any NI level figures presented throughout this report only include those for Belfast, Northern, Southern and Western HSC Trusts.
Key facts and figures are as follows:
Waiting times for first definitive treatment following a decision to treat (31 day target)
Figures in this section exclude the South Eastern Trust as data was not available for the this quarter.
- in the quarter ending December 2023, 2,281 patients in the Belfast, Northern, Southern and Western Trusts started their first definitive treatment, 1.4% (32) more than in the previous quarter (2,249), and 1.1% (25) fewer than in the same quarter last year (2,306).
- 89.1% (2,033) of those patients started treatment within 31 days of a decision to treat, compared with 89.2% (2,006) in the previous quarter and 88.6% (2,042) in the same quarter last year.
Waiting times for first definitive treatment following an urgent GP referral for suspect cancer (62 day target)
Figures in this section exclude the South Eastern Trust as data was not available for the this quarter.
- in the quarter ending December 2023, 1,076 patients in the Belfast, Northern, Southern and Western Trusts started their first definitive treatment, 0.1% (1) more than in the previous quarter (1,075), and 3.3% (37) fewer than in the same quarter last year (1,113). Of these patients seen during the quarter ending December 2023, 73 were initially seen at from the South Eastern Trust before waiting for treatment at the other Trusts.
- 30.0% (323) of those patients started treatment within 62 days, compared with 34.3% (369) in the previous quarter and 34.9% (388) in the same quarter last year.
Patients first seen following an urgent referral for suspect breast cancer (14 day target)
Figures in this section exclude the South Eastern Trust as data was not available for the this quarter.
- in the quarter ending December 2023, there were 3,046 patients in the Belfast, Northern, Southern and Western Trusts seen by a breast cancer specialist following an urgent referral for suspect breast cancer, 17.2% (446) more than in the previous quarter (2,600), and 2.7% (79) more than in the same quarter last year (2,967).
- 40.5% (1,235) of those patients were seen within 14 days of their urgent referral for breast cancer, compared with 65.2% (1,695) in the previous quarter and 73.5% (2,182) in the same quarter last year.
Referrals for suspect breast cancer
Figures in this section exclude the South Eastern Trust as data was not available for the this quarter.
- in the quarter ending December 2023, there were 5,417 new referrals for suspect breast cancer, of which 64.8% (3,508) were urgent.
Notes to editors:
1. All statistical publications relating to cancer waiting times are available on our website.
2. About the data
Data used to report on the 31 and 62 day targets are sourced from the Cancer Patient Pathway System (CaPPS), the system used to administer cancer treatment services within Health and Social Care Trusts.
Data used to report on the breast cancer activity and referrals are sourced from the Patient Administration System, an administrative system used to manage, record and monitor hospital waiting lists within Health and Social Care Trusts.
3. Targets for cancer waiting times
The draft waiting times targets for cancer state that:
- at least 98% of patients diagnosed with cancer should begin their first definitive treatment within 31 days of a decision to treat.
- at least 95% of patients should begin their first definitive treatment for cancer within 62 days following an urgent GP referral for suspect cancer.
- all urgent breast cancer referrals should be seen within 14 days.
4. Waiting times for treatment following a decision to treat for cancer (31 day target)
These data relate to all patients who received a first definitive treatment for cancer during each of the three months covered by the publication, irrespective of their source or type of referral.
This is measured from the date on which the patient and the clinician agree the planned treatment and ends on the date the patient receives their first definitive treatment for cancer. Adjustments are made to the completed waiting time in the event of a patient cancelling or self-deferring treatment or because of suspension for either medical or social reasons.
5. Waiting times for treatment following an urgent GP referral for suspect cancer (62 day target)
These data relate to patients who received a first definitive treatment for cancer during each of the three months covered in the publication, following an urgent referral for suspect cancer from a General Practitioner or a routine GP referral that has subsequently been reclassified as urgent by a cancer specialist. Referrals from sources other than a GP, routine referrals and patients who have not been given an ICD 10 diagnosis are excluded.
This is measured from the date an initial urgent GP referral for suspect cancer is received by the HSC Trust and ends on the date the patient receives their first definitive treatment for cancer. Adjustments are made to the completed waiting time in the event of a patient cancelling or self-deferring treatment or because of suspension for either medical or social reasons.
6. Patients first seen following an urgent referral for suspect breast cancer (14 day target)
These data relate to urgent referrals for suspect breast cancer that were first seen during each of the three months covered in the publication, irrespective of the source of referral. Figures include routine referrals that have subsequently been reclassified by a breast specialist as urgent and exclude urgent referrals reclassified as routine.
The waiting time is measured from the date an initial breast cancer referral is first received by the HSC Trust and ends on the date that the patient attends their first outpatient appointment with a breast cancer specialist. Adjustments are made to the completed waiting time in the event of a patient cancelling, self-deferring or failing to attend a first outpatient appointment.
7. Number of referrals for suspect breast cancer
These data refer to all new referrals received for suspect breast cancer irrespective of the source or urgency of referral. Referrals for suspect breast cancer can be for advice, assessment or both.
8. This information is provided by Hospital Information Branch, DoH.
Hospital Information Branch
Department of Health
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Telephone: 028 90765725
E-mail: Statistics@health-ni.gov.uk
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