What is a 62 day cancer pathway?

The 62 day pathway is a national guideline for clinicians, other health professionals and administrative staff to ensure individuals are seen and treated within a set time. The most common way to be referred on to the 62 day pathway is by your GP – This is with a ‘Two week wait’ appointment.

What is the waiting time for cancer patients?

The target that spans the patient pathway is for at least 85% of patients to start a first treatment for cancer within two months (62 days) of an urgent GP referral. Patients who are referred from an NHS cancer screening service should also start treatment within 62 days, but the operational threshold is set at 90%.

How are cancer waiting times collected in the NHS?

Cancer Waiting Times Data Collection (CWT) The national Cancer Waiting Times (CWT) system allows NHS providers to record data derived from patient care activity. This data can be used to monitor cancer waiting times targets or plan service improvements. As a patient moves through the stages of their treatment pathway data on referrals,…

Is the 2 week urgent referral pathway no longer needed?

The Independent Cancer Taskforce proposed that the two week urgent referral pathway was “no longer needed”. With eight cancer waiting time targets soon to become nine, this increasing number of targets may be adding unnecessary complexity to an already complex patient pathway.

When to refer a patient to the urgent cancer pathway?

These are known as the urgent, and the non-urgent cancer pathways. GPs will refer patients via the urgent cancer pathway when they see obvious red-flag cancer symptoms in patients, or other signs that should be acted upon as recommended by the recently overhauled NICE cancer referral guidelines for primary care.

How long do patients have to wait for cancer treatment?

The proportion of patients waiting less than two months to start cancer treatment following an urgent GP referral has decreased considerably over time, from 87% in Q4 2008/09 to 76% in Q4 2019/20. The target has not been met since Q3 2013/14.