Letter to the Editor: You may have seen in the news recently that people in Wales are facing record delays with lifesaving cancer treatments. In fact, the latest figures show that the number of cancer patients who are not receiving treatment on time is at its worst since records began.

The reality of this is that around 800 cancer patients a month are being left to face heart-breaking delays.

The Welsh Government has pledged to treat 80 per cent of people on time – meaning treatment should begin within 62 days of a patient first being suspected of having cancer – by 2026 but is way short of its target.

In August only 52.5 per cent of cancer patients started their treatment on time.

This is a crisis in which almost 1 in 2 people diagnosed with cancer in Wales will experience delays in their care.

The data also reveals significant variation in treatment times for different cancer types. Waiting times for tumours such as gynaecological and urological cancers show that less than two in five (34.4 per cent) patients are starting their treatment on time.

Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Wales’ national treatment targets were consistently being missed. But the latest figures show that the situation is worsening.

This is simply not acceptable.

This latest data holds a mirror up to the reality of cancer care in Wales. Wales must now act on what it is seeing.

Right now, the stark reality presented by current performance data makes the Welsh Government’s plans to treat 80% of patients on time by 2026 look more like fiction than ambition. The direction of travel is completely wrong with Wales moving ever further away from that target rather than progressing towards it.

Hundreds of cancer patients – month on month, year on year – are, along with their loved ones, facing the heartbreak of treatment delays that will ultimately impact on the outcomes that can be realistically achieved for them.

We know Wales’ cancer care system, and its staff, are working harder than ever before. They desperately need to see the promised Cancer Services Delivery Plan which Welsh Government has committed to publishing by Autumn 2022. Without it, this current crisis will only continue to worsen.

Macmillan is calling for urgent action to avoid the crisis in Wales’ cancer care system continuing to deepen as services struggle to meet demand for life-saving cancer treatment

At Macmillan, we will continue to do everything we can to help and we are here for anyone with cancer and their loved ones. You can call us for advice, information or a chat, free on 0808 808 0000 or you can visit macmillan­.org.uk

If you would like to help us campaign for change and to create better cancer services for all by sharing your experiences we’d love to hear from you. Please email us on walecomms­@macmillan.org.uk

Richard Pugh

Head of Partnerships – Wales

Macmillan Cancer Support