Department of Health and Social Care written question – answered at on 29 April 2026.
Dr Caroline Johnson
Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients referred urgently with suspected cancer are (a) diagnosed and (b) reassured within (i) 28, (ii) 29, (iii) 30, (iv) 31, (v) 32 and (vi) 33 days of referral for which the latest data is available.
Sharon Hodgson
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health and Social Care
The table attached shows, in the period from October to December 2025, the number of patients referred urgently with suspected cancer who were either diagnosed with cancer or had cancer ruled out within the specified period between referral and the communication of their outcome.
NHS England first published information on outcomes for patients referred urgently with suspected cancer under the Faster Diagnosis Standard in September 2025. This data covers all patients, irrespective of the number of days between referral and the communication of the outcome.
The figures provided above represent a subset of this data, focusing on specific time bands requested, and are not routinely published. Each time band is cumulative and includes all patients who received their outcome within that period. Further information on Cancer Waiting Times statistics is available on the NHS England website, at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/cancer-waiting-times/
Table (pdf, 35.5KB)
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