NEARLY a quarter of patients are failing to receive a vital test for bowel cancer within the target period due to delays at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust (WHAT).
The Bowel Cancer UK charity found that 187 patients – 23 per cent of the total – were waiting more than six weeks for a colonoscopy investigation.
The charity placed the trust, which runs the Alexandra Hospital, Redditch, as the second worst in the Midlands and the east of England.
The two key tests to diagnose bowel cancer are colonoscopy and flexible sigmoidoscopy – a camera on a thin, flexible cable. For sigmoidoscopies the trust performed better, but still had 17 breaches of the six week target or 4.8 per cent of the total.
The charity says that bowel cancer is the second biggest cancer killer, but that it shouldn’t be as it’s treatable and curable, especially if diagnosed early.
Spokesman Asha Kaur said: “These waiting time figures present a worrying picture for patients and demonstrates the urgent need for the Government to make addressing this crisis a national priority. If hospitals are expected to meet waiting time targets then they must be given the resources and capacity to enable them to meet these standards.”
A WHAT spokesman said: “We apologise to patients who are waiting longer than expected. The increased waiting times are due to an increase in demand of 13.5 per cent between 2015/16 and 2016/17.
“We are working hard to maximise our capacity to make sure all endoscopy appointments are used. In addition, we have been working with the independent sector for some months and will continue to offer patients the choice of having their scope in the private sector,” said the hospital spokesman.
