North East London Cancer Alliance leads on national cancer standards

Latest national data on cancer performance in England shows that North East London Cancer Alliance is the top performing alliance for ensuring cancer patients receive their first treatment within 31 days of a decision to treat.

This is credit to the cancer care teams across each of the three Trusts – Barts Health, Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals Trust and Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. Cancer nurses, clinical leadership teams, clinicians, junior administrators, booking teams and management staff have all played a vital role in delivering faster, better care to patients in north east London.

In addition, North East London Cancer Alliance has consistently met the Faster Diagnosis Standard. This standard ensures patients receive a diagnosis or have cancer ruled out within 28 days of referral. Against a national target of 77%, the Alliance achieved an impressive 80.6%.

The third national standard – the 62-day referral to treatment target – was also exceeded in North East London. A total of 76.5% of patients began treatment within 62 days of an urgent GP referral, well above the national operational plan target of 70%.

These achievements underline the crucial role of Cancer Alliances in improving local cancer services, driving innovation, and delivering service improvements across the system.

Cancer in North East London: the scale of the challenge

To understand the scale of work underway, consider that in the past year alone, 7,271 people were diagnosed with cancer in North East London. By 2025, the number of people living with cancer is projected to increase to 52,979, up from 51,588 the previous year.

Over a 12-month period, 88,040 people were referred via the Faster Diagnosis pathway for suspected cancer. Of these, 84,898 (96.4%) were given the all-clear.

These figures highlight the growing demand for services and the importance of timely reassurance for patients, while ensuring that those needing treatment are diagnosed and seen earlier.

Driving innovation to improve outcomes

Femi Odewale, Managing Director, North East London Cancer Alliance, explains how these cancer results have been achieved.

“Whether it is our administrators supporting clinicians to enable a speedy experience for patients, nurses delivering first class care, or diagnostic teams bringing in new technology in a seamless way, our cancer staff have been working above and beyond; providing additional sessions where demand outweighed capacity, introducing more streamlined pathways and really going the extra mile to improve access and outcomes for patients. I would like to thank them all for their ongoing hard work and support.”

North East London Cancer Alliance has also increased support for the workforce. Initiatives such as introducing more nursing roles, increasing administrative capacity and developing stronger clinical collaboration across the system have all had an impact.

At the same time, they have been introducing new technology to the cancer pathway. For example, the use of Artificial Intelligence in cancer care is an area where they are moving forwards at pace. The Alliance is already using AI to speed up the review of chest CT scans, reducing the time for results from three weeks to three days. They are also speeding up diagnosis results from suspected skin cancer using digital imaging tools and software in a safe and efficient way.

A key priority is reducing health inequalities. Work such as producing clinical animations – easy to understand animated videos in different languages - aims to improve patients understanding of their diagnosis, the urgency of appointments and information about clinical trials. This will help to minimise the number of appointments missed and boost uptake in clinical trials from the diverse population in north east London.

Looking ahead

Innovation and improvement continue across the Cancer Alliance’s three programme areas: early diagnosis, diagnosis and treatment, and personalised cancer care. Exciting developments are planned in all three.

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

“Innovative tools and technology are transforming cancer diagnosis and care. Our targeted awareness campaigns and community engagement are also increasing uptake of screening programmes and supporting early diagnosis of cancer, when treatment is most effective.

“The Cancer Alliance model enables us to work collaboratively, trial new approaches, and deliver meaningful outcomes for patients. In north east London, we are proud to be leading this change – improving services, empowering staff, and ultimately, saving lives.”

More information

Find out more about the work of North East London Cancer Alliance: https://www.nelcanceralliance.nhs.uk/about/our-work