In the quarter ending 30 June 2023, NHS Scotland started treatment for 73.7% of the 4 299 patients referred, within the 62-day standard for urgent suspicion of cancer.
In the same period in NHS England, the comparable figure was only 59.6%.
On this target, NHS Scotland started treatment for 23.6% more on time than NHS England did. This means that 1 014 more urgent cases were treated on time than would have been the case had they lived in England.
In the same period in Scotland, 95.2% of the 6 823 referred waited no longer than 30 days from decision to treat to first cancer treatment. The target is 95%.
In England the figure was only 77.5% for surgery and 86.1% for radiotherapy. The target is 95%.
Note: The gaps may be even wider. See this from the BMJ only days ago:
A UK cancer charity has challenged NHS England over its use of statistics, claiming that official figures have been presented in such a way as to make the NHS’s performance on cancer targets appear better than it is.
The charity Radiotherapy UK, which runs the #CatchUpWithCancer campaign, has raised issues over the presentation of official data on cancer targets that were published earlier this year and is concerned that two different targets have been confused by the media and the public.
https://www.bmj.com/content/382/bmj.p2028
Sources:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/cancer-waiting-times/
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 