WHSCT best on cancer waits but misses key targets

Notwithstanding its superior performance, the Trust failed to meet a number of key targets, including its 62-day target of facilitating a first treatment for patients urgently referred by GPs, and of seeing all breast cancer referrals within a fortnight.

It did, however, outperform all Trusts in delivering a first definitive treatment within 31 days of a decision to treat.

“The Western Trust had the highest percentage of patients starting treatment within 31 days of a decision to treat and was the only Trust to meet the target of 98 percent of patients starting treatment within 31 days,” the new cancer bulletin shows.

The Trust was also the best performing health authority for first definitive treatments within 62 days of an urgent GP referral but fell far short of a target of 95 per cent of patients beginning treatment within 62 days.

“The Western Trust reported the highest percentage of patients starting treatment within 62 days at 44.0% (127 of 288.5). The lowest percentage was reported by the Belfast HSC Trust at 22.6% (88 of 390),” the statistics show.

Earlier this month Sean Hegarty, a non-Executive director at the WHSCT, described its performance against the 62 day target as ‘completely unacceptable’.

Speaking during the Western Trust’s January board meeting, Mr. Hegarty said: "It's the sort of thing we cannot just listen to and ignore. It is very frustrating.”

Dr. Tom Frawley. Chairman of the Western Trust, acknowledged: “The 62 days is a huge challenge, not just here in Northern Ireland but across the whole of the UK, and there is a huge concern about it and again I think there is a resource implication there and indeed all sorts of other complexities.”

The latest cancer bulletin shows the Trust did not meet its target of seeing all urgent breast cancer referrals within 14 days although the ‘Western and Belfast HSC Trusts saw the highest percentage of patients within 14 days at 99.5% and 95.6% respectively’.

Sharp decline in percentage of cancer patients seen within 62 days of GP referral