NHS Scotland performance against LDP standards

LDP Standard

95% of all patients diagnosed with cancer to begin treatment within 31 days of decision to treat, and 95% of those referred urgently with a suspicion of cancer to begin treatment within 62 days of receipt of referral. 

Current national performance

In the quarter ending June 2022, 76.3% of patients urgently referred with a suspicion of cancer began treatment within 62 days of their referral.

In the quarter ending June 2022, 95.5% of patients diagnosed with cancer started treatment within 31 days of their decision to treat.

About this LDP standard

The time from when a suspicion of cancer is raised is a particularly distressing and anxious time for both the patient and their family. Within NHSScotland two standards are in place to support diagnostics and treatments are delivered efficiently.

62-day standard from receipt of referral to start of treatment for newly diagnosed primary cancers. This applies to:

• patients urgently referred with a suspicion of cancer by a primary care clinician
• screened positive patients referred through a national cancer screening programme
• direct referral to hospital (for example, self-referral to A&E)

31-day standard from decision to treat to start of treatment for newly diagnosed primary cancers (whatever their route of referral).

Both cancer access standards apply to ten major cancer types:

• Breast
• Colorectal
• Head & Neck
• Lung
• Lymphoma
• Ovarian
• Melanoma
• Upper Gastro-Intestinal (hepato-pancreato-biliary (HPB) and oesophago-gastric (OG))
• Urological (prostate, bladder, other)
• Cervical

The stated waiting time must be met for 95% of all patients covered by the standard. A 5% tolerance level is taken into account when measuring performance, as for some patients it will not be clinically appropriate for treatment to begin within the standard.

The NHS Board to which a patient is initially referred is responsible for meeting 95% compliance within the 62-day standard. The NHS Board where the patient receives their first treatment will be responsible for meeting 95% compliance within the 31-day standard. This responsibility remains unchanged if an NHS Board chooses to outsource part of a patient's care.

Performance against this standard

Scotland’s three national screening programmes have resumed and urgent suspicion of cancer referrals returned to pre-Covid levels. Necessary health protection measures, including self-isolation, social distancing and additional deep cleaning, impacts on cancer pathways, particularly scope-based diagnostic tests. Clinical guidance, developed in response to the pandemic, continues to be embedded, ensuring high-quality care is delivered in the safest possible way to those who need it most. The Covid-19 pandamic has impacted the results, some boards have hilghligted that staffing and capacity issues continue to impact on performance in the lates quarter. 

62-day referral to treatment

The standard is to achieve 95% of patients diagnosed with cancer starting treatment within 62 days if urgently referred with a suspicion of cancer, referred through A&E, or referred from one of the national cancer screening programmes.

In the quarter ending June 2022, 76.3% of patients urgently referred with a suspicion of cancer began treatment within 62 days of their referral.

The graph below shows national performance on the 62 day standard since quarter ending June 2015.

NHS Board level performance is shown for the most recent time period in the table below.

The table below shows the percentage of patients starting treatment within 62-days of urgent referral with a suspicion of cancer, by NHS Board, for quarter ending June 2022.

Source: Scottish Cancer Waiting-Times System

31-day decision to treat to first treatment

The target is to achieve 95 % of patients diagnosed with cancer starting treatment within 31 days of their decision to treat, irrespective of the source or urgency of the referral.

In the quarter ending June 2022, 95.5% of patients diagnosed with cancer started treatment within 31 days of their decision to treat.

The graph below shows national performance on the 31 day standard since quarter ending June 2015.

NHS Board level performance is shown for the most recent time period in the table below.

The table below shows the percentage of cancer patients starting treatment within 31-days of decision to treat, by NHS Board, for quarter ending June 2022.

Source: Scottish Cancer Waiting-Times System

Further information 

Better Cancer Care - An Action Plan

Cancer Waiting Times statistics

Cancer Incidence statistics

Related National Outcomes

• We are healthy and active
• We live in communities that are inclusive, empowered, resilient and safe

Page updated: 29 Sept 2022.