CANCER patients are not getting fast enough treatment in East Lancashire, new figures reveal.

According to national targets, at least 85 per cent of patients referred urgently by their GP for their first treatment should receive it within 62 days.

MORE TOP STORIES:

The East Lancashire Clinical Commissioning Group figures show, though, that they only managed to ensure 83.13 per cent of patients were seen within the time frame in July and 82.80 per cent in the year to date.

There were 14 breaches of the guidance in July 2015, which included five late tertiary referrals, four patient-initiated delays, two delays for capacity, two administration delays and one delay for medical reasons.

NHS East Lancashire CCG said that tackling cancer was one of its key priorities, demonstrated by the £1million investment committed to radically transform cancer care in the area.

A spokesman said: “In collaborative partnership with Macmillan Cancer Support, Blackburn with Darwen CCG, East Lancashire NHS Hospitals Trust and Lancashire County Council in a three-year programme of work, we have been working closely with all 90 GP practices in the Pennine Lancashire area to improve cancer awareness and early diagnosis.

“This is as well as creating new services and investing in enhancing existing services to create excellence and equality of care across the region.”

Early diagnosis and treatment means patients have a better chance of beating the disease.

The spokesman added: “In addition, we have joint action plans in place with our neighbouring commissioners, and robust processes in place to monitor the performance of our providers and to identify where the standard is not being met and what the issues are.

“It is imperative that we continue to educate patients about the importance of early diagnosis and treatment.”