Going further on cancer waits
Shorter waiting times can help to ease patient anxiety and, at best, can lead to earlier diagnosis, quicker treatment, a lower risk of complications, an enhanced patient experience and improved cancer outcomes. (Improving Outcomes: a Strategy for Cancer 2011) The NHS Operating Framework specifies the headline and supporting quality measures that apply to cancer. There are two headline aggregated measures, and nine supporting measures, which includes the five disaggregated headline measures above.
View the cancer waiting times quality measures
Quality improvement
The vast majority of organisations providing cancer services are delivering the quality measures specified in the NHS Operating Framework 2011/12. For those who are struggling to deliver, support is available locally through your cancer network and service improvement teams. There are a number of tools and resources out there to support you to deliver sustainable effective pathways. The tools and guides include: