Core standards
The NHS in England has three core standards for cancer waiting times:
| Standard | Description | National objective |
|---|---|---|
| 28-day Faster Diagnosis Standard | Patients with suspected cancer who are referred for urgent cancer checks from a GP, screening programme, or other route should be diagnosed or have cancer ruled out within 28 days of referral | At least 77% of patients |
| 31-day decision-to-treat to treatment standard | Patients who have a cancer diagnosis, and who have had a decision made on their first or subsequent treatment, should then start that treatment within 31 days | At least 96% of patients |
| 62-day referral to treatment standard | Patients who have been referred for suspected cancer from any source and go on to receive a cancer diagnosis should start treatment within 62 days of their referral | At least 85% of patients |
Notes:
Faster Diagnosis Standard
The objective for the Faster Diagnosis Standard will be 80% in 2025-26. This standard was first introduced in 2021, with an objective of 75% which increased to 77% in 2024-25. This is lower than the 95% objective recommended by the Independent Cancer Taskforce (in 2015).
NHS England has recognised that objectives for the Faster Diagnosis Standard may vary by suspected cancer type, for example by stating (here) that ‘we would expect performance against breast and skin specifically to need to be above 90%.’
Review of previous standards
The three standards came into effect in October 2023, following a review of previous standards.
The ‘two week wait’ standard, which specified that at least 93% of patients should have their first hospital outpatient attendance within two weeks of referral, was retired during this process.
Other changes were to use the same objective for subcategories of the three core standards (such as using 96% for all treatment options included in the 31-day standard).