Leading performance against the National Cancer Standards

North East London Cancer Alliance continues to demonstrate strong and sustained performance against the three national cancer waiting time standards, reflecting the collective efforts of local NHS partners, primary care, clinicians and support teams across the system.

This progress is particularly notable given the increasing demand on cancer services across England and the ongoing pressures associated with workforce capacity, rising referral volumes, and recovery from pandemic backlogs.

Through collaboration, innovation and targeted investment in service improvement, North East London Cancer Alliance has maintained momentum across the 28-day Faster Diagnosis Standard (FDS), the 31-day decision-to-treat standard and the 62-day referral-to-treatment standard.

Dr Angela Wong, Chief Medical Officer for North East London Cancer Alliance said:

"There has been a 15% increase in cancer incidence since 2015 and so we have continued expanding access to services, for example through our Community Diagnostic Centres, offering services 12 hours a day, 7 days a week.

“Our clinically focused transition is progressing well, and we are committed to maintaining our position as a leading provider of cancer services, consistently delivering improved cancer care for our patients in north east London.

“The dedication and hard work of the trusts have not gone unnoticed. We remain steadfast in our mission to achieve the goals outlined in the recently launched National Cancer Plan, ensuring the best possible outcomes for our patients."

Strong National and Regional Performance

For the latest available figures (November 2025), the Alliance achieved:

• 1st nationally for Faster Diagnosis Standard (FDS)
• 2nd nationally for 62-day performance

These rankings reinforce a pattern of sustained improvement throughout the year. For example, earlier performance results showed:

July

• FDS: 2nd nationally by Cancer Alliance, and 6th by national ICB
• 62-day standard: 7th nationally and by Cancer Alliance

August

• FDS: 1st nationally by Cancer Alliance, and 2nd by national ICB
• 62-day standard: 2nd nationally and by Cancer Alliance

In the first quarter of this year, North East London Cancer Alliance was ranked number one nationally for the 62-day combined standard, achieving 75.5%, demonstrating strong pathway management from referral through to treatment.

Across the second quarter, the system continued to lead regionally, becoming the best-performing Integrated Care Board in London across all three national cancer targets, including the 28-day Faster Diagnosis Standard. In quarter three, performance against the FDS reached 82.2%, again ranking first across London.

Importantly, North East London Cancer Alliance is currently the only Cancer Alliance nationally without any hospital provider in the bottom quartile for any of the key cancer standard - a significant achievement demonstrating consistent performance across all partners.

System-wide improvement across provider trusts

Performance improvements have been driven by the combined efforts of primary care and provider organisations, including Barts Health NHS Trust, Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust (BHRUT), and Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.

Data from NHS England highlighted that Barts Health recorded one of the largest national improvements in 62-day cancer performance, increasing by 14 percentage points over 12 months. During the same period:

• Homerton improved its performance by 5%
• BHRUT improved by 3%

This progress was achieved despite national performance slipping overall, demonstrating the effectiveness of local improvement initiatives and partnership working.

Investment in workforce growth, technology, diagnostic capacity and pathway redesign has been essential to sustaining these improvements. Across the system, teams have worked together to address historic backlogs, rising referrals and operational pressures while maintaining patient safety and experience.

Key initiatives include:

• Artificial Intelligence-enabled diagnostic pathways, designed to identify abnormal chest X-rays quickly and prioritise urgent cases. These tools have reduced the time to review significant findings from several weeks to a matter of days, supporting earlier clinical decision-making and faster treatment initiation.
• Community and diagnostic capacity expansion, including projects such as additional imaging services and diagnostic centres that increase access to tests and reduce delays across pathways.
• Best Practice Timed Pathways, implemented across tumour groups to ensure consistent and efficient movement through diagnosis and treatment stages.
• Colon Capsule Endoscopy – offering a less invasive diagnostic test for suitable lower gastrointestinal referrals, helping streamline investigation pathways.
• Cytosponge Programme – enabling earlier detection of oesophageal cancer through a minimally invasive diagnostic test.
• Teledermatology – supporting faster assessment and triage of suspected skin cancer referrals using digital imaging.
• MRI Optimisation – improving scan quality and consistency across providers to reduce repeat imaging and delays.

These innovations support the Alliance’s ambition to deliver a quicker, more consistent experience for patients referred with suspected cancer, while also reducing variation in treatment across the system.

You can explore the full range of initiatives on the Diagnosis and Treatment page: https://www.nelcanceralliance.nhs.uk/diagnosis-and-treatment-programme

A consistent focus on equity

Achieving high performance across all providers has been a core priority for the Alliance. The fact that no north east London hospital currently sits within the lowest-performing quartile for any cancer standard reflects a sustained effort to reduce variation.

The Alliance continues to address health inequalities through targeted outreach, translated patient information, and community engagement initiatives designed to improve screening uptake and access to services across its diverse population. These measures help ensure that improvements in performance translate into improved outcomes for all residents.

The system also works closely with patient and carer groups to shape service improvements, ensuring changes reflect lived experience and deliver meaningful benefits for those navigating cancer pathways.

Partnership working across the system

Strong partnership working across primary care, community services, diagnostic providers and acute trusts has been critical to progress. Multidisciplinary collaboration, shared data, and clinically led improvement programmes have enabled faster decision-making and more efficient pathways.

This joined-up approach has also supported recovery from historic backlogs, with previous work across the system reducing waiting lists significantly while maintaining quality and safety.

By working as a single integrated system, north east London has been able to respond more effectively to increasing demand and deliver sustained improvements across all three national cancer standards.

Wayne Douglas, Programme Lead, Diagnosis and Treatment, North East London Cancer Alliance, said:

“Our progress against the national cancer standards reflects the collective commitment of our teams to provide patients with faster diagnosis and timely treatment.

“By investing in innovation, strengthening our workforce and working closely with our provider partners, we have created more efficient pathways that reduce waiting times and improve patient experience. While we are proud of the progress made so far, we remain focused on sustaining and building on this performance so that every resident receives the highest quality cancer care when they need it.”

Looking Ahead

Although performance has been strong, the Alliance recognises that sustaining improvement requires continued focus, investment and innovation. Demand for cancer services is expected to grow as screening programmes expand, and awareness initiatives increase referrals.

Future priorities include:

• Embedding new diagnostic technologies at scale
• Continuing to optimise pathways for high-volume tumour groups
• Reducing inequalities in access, diagnosis and treatment
• Supporting workforce development across cancer services
• Maintaining consistent performance across all providers

The recently released national cancer plan will set new expectations for systems across England, and North East London Cancer Alliance is well positioned to respond, building on its established track record of improvement and collaboration.