Hundreds of cancer patients spent more than 62 days waiting between referral and their treatment at NUH recent figures show.
The figures were released as part of Nottingham University Hospitals Trust’s (NUH) board papers for the upcoming meeting with hospital officials on Thursday (8 January).
At the start of October 2025, more than 650 patients were waiting more than 62 days to start their cancer treatment after referral, with the trust saying the backlog was “the largest it has been”.
However, the most recent figures show a decrease in the backlog, with numbers decreasing to 555 patients by mid-November due to changes made at the trust.
NUH’s 62-day cancer target aims to ensure patients on a cancer pathway spend no more than 62 days waiting from referral to treatment.
Its working target for the number of patients waiting over 62 days is 370, meaning this improved backlog position is still operating above the trust’s aim.
The trust says its increased backlog was caused by “higher than planned levels” of referrals between April and June 2025 and “dips” in capacity over the summer.
Despite this backlog, the number of patients who received cancer treatment within 62 days in October was 64.8 per cent, an increase from 62.1 per cent in September, with NUH saying this is “above trajectory”.
The trust’s 28-day ‘faster diagnosis’ aim, which refers to patients receiving a cancer diagnosis or having cancer ruled out within 28 days of their referral, has also faced performance issues according to documents.
NUH’s goal is to have 70.9 per cent of people diagnosed or ruled out within 28 days of their referral, and while October’s 64.8 per cent figure shows an improvement on September’s 63.5 per cent figure, this still marks the “sixth month in a row” in which the trust has not met its target.
NUH says this faster diagnosis aim has historically been strong at the trust, but deterioration in diagnosis over July, August, and September, particularly in breast cancer queries, has taken it below its plan.
