A NATIONAL NHS target to speed up cancer diagnosis times has been welcomed in East Lancashire.

Health secretary Jeremy Hunt wants patients to be given a definitive diagnosis or the ‘all clear’ within 28 days of a GP referral.

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Carol Fielding, from Accrington, says it will help future patients get treatment quicker, unlike her husband Glyn – who died from prostate cancer aged 43 after waiting for 11 months for a diagnosis.

The target, which will be introduced from 2020, could help save up to 11,000 lives a year, according to the Independent Cancer Taskforce.

Pendle MP Andrew Stephenson has pledged his support to help Cancer Research UK save more lives.

He said: “Cancer is something that touches us all and it’s really important that referrals by the GP are made as soon as possible. This is something that we politicians, health professionals and the general public need to work together with to ensure that patients are diagnosed as soon as possible – even before 2020.”

If the 28-day target is met Britain would become one of the first countries in the world to achieve such results. Mr Hunt said £300m will be invested and newly-trained staff would be able to carry out over a half a million more endoscopies in the next five years.

“If you look at the reason why sometimes we’re not diagnosing things as quickly as possible it’s about capacity in the system. It’s about not having enough people to do endoscopies and not having enough cancer consultants,” he added.

Mrs Fielding said: “I am afraid it’s too little too late for me and I think if politicians had thought about this earlier my husband may have beat it. The doctor told him he was too young to have prostate cancer and just left it.

“I think it’s right that no matter what you should be given tests. Sadly, when we found out Glyn had cancer it had spread to his bladder. I hope this helps future patients.”