THE trust that runs Basingstoke hospital said it is increasing the number of appointments for cancer patients and recruiting more staff, to improve its waiting times.

Responding to an article published in the Gazette revealing that Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (HHFT) is failing to meet various cancer waiting time targets, a spokesperson said it is “doing all we can to improve”.

The article reported that fewer than half of patients with breast cancer symptoms are being seen in hospital within two weeks following an urgent GP referral.

Read the full article here. 

The figures showed that in February this year, just 47.4 per cent of those with breast cancer symptoms were seen within 14 days.

HHFT has a target for more than 93 per cent of patients with breast cancer symptoms who receive an urgent GP referral for suspected cancer to be assessed in hospital within two weeks.

The trust, which runs Basingstoke, Andover and Winchester hospitals, is also failing on other cancer targets according to the figures.

A spokesperson for the trust said: “We remain committed to doing all that we can to improve cancer patient wait times and our staff are working exceptionally hard to be there for all those in need of our care.

“We have seen a sustained increased in cancer referrals in recent months with people now returning to access care at pre-pandemic levels. However, the effects of Covid-19 mean that we still face significant challenges.

"We are proud that cancer care has continued throughout the pandemic, and our cancer performance against the faster diagnosis standard is currently ranked in the top 25 per cent nationally and third overall locally.

“However, we recognise that we need to do even more to ensure patients are seen and treated as quickly as possible, and in order to do this we are increasing the number of appointments available and the recruitment of additional staff.”

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