North East London’s cancer care praised for outstanding performance

North East London Cancer Alliance has been recognised for its outstanding performance in cancer diagnosis and treatment across the region. The achievement was highlighted at a London-wide NHS cancer performance meeting, held on 22 July 2025.

The Cancer Alliance, which brings together Barts Health NHS Trust, Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust, and Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, has achieved results that place it at the top of cancer performance tables.

Faster cancer diagnosis and treatment times

The latest NHS cancer performance figures (to the end of May 2025) show North East London Cancer Alliance is excelling across all three national cancer standards:

1.The Faster Diagnosis Standard (which ensures patients receive a diagnosis or have cancer ruled out within 28 days of referral)

• 79.5% of patients received a cancer diagnosis or had cancer ruled out within 28 days of referral.
• This is above the London average of 77.7%, ranking North East London as the second-best performing Cancer Alliance in the country.

2. The 31-Day Cancer Treatment Standard (which ensures cancer patients receive their first treatment within 31 days of a decision to treat)

• 98.1% of patients began cancer treatment within 31 days of a decision to treat.
• This exceeds the national standard of 96.6% and the London average of 94.6%.
• North East London Cancer Alliance is now leading the country for timely cancer treatment and is ranked 1st out of all five London ICBs.

3. The 62-Day Cancer Treatment Standard (which ensures that patients began treatment within 62 days of an urgent GP referral)

• 77.3% of patients started treatment within 62 days of referral or consultant upgrade.
• This marks a significant improvement from 69.4% last year and is well above the London average of 70.3%.
• Ranked best performing Cancer Alliance in England.

Expert teams driving cancer care success

Wayne Douglas, Programme Lead for Diagnosis and Treatment at North East London Cancer Alliance, praised the dedication of the cancer teams in north east London:

“This success is thanks to our cancer teams across out three trusts: Barts Health, BHRUT and Homerton Healthcare. Every member of the team - clinicians, nurses, administrators, booking teams and both clinical and management leadership - has contributed to delivering faster, better cancer care for patients in north east London.”

He also highlighted the Alliance’s focus on patient-centred planning:

“We’ve worked hard to manage performance effectively – forward planning around bank holidays, running additional clinics to meet demand, and improving patient communication through deep dives into care pathways have all been crucial to exceeding our targets.”

Faster cancer diagnosis means better outcomes

These improvements mean that cancer patients in north east London are being diagnosed and starting treatment more quickly than ever before. Quicker diagnosis and treatment not only improve survival rates but also reduce the anxiety that comes with waiting for results.

North East London Cancer Alliance remains committed to working with its NHS partners to continue delivering world-class cancer care and further improve outcomes for local patients.

For more information about innovation taking place in cancer diagnosis and treatment, watch the cancer alliance video: https://youtu.be/urpQ6-AnExc