Referral to hospital

When you are referred to the hospital we aim to see you in clinic or perform your first diagnostic test within 14 days. This means you will need to be available to attend, often at short notice. This can be on any hospital site depending on the investigations being carried out and which cancer pathway you are on. Information about the hospital shuttle service can be found in the patients and visitors section of the website. 

If you need further information about any diagnostic tests you can speak to your cancer team or visit the Macmillan website for more detail.

Cancer Navigators

Following referral to hospital you may be contacted by a cancer navigator. They are individuals who are trained to support patients through the diagnostic tests required to rule out or diagnose cancer.

They will help resolve real or perceived barriers to care and enable patients to follow recommended pathways in a timely way.

• Colorectal navigator - 01924 546195
• Lung navigator - 01924 543977
• Upper Gastrointestinal - 01977 747498

Cancer waiting times

The operational standards for cancer waiting times were developed initially with the introduction of the Cancer Plan in 2000, These standards are reviewed annually by NHS England and a new version of cancer waiting times is published every 1–2 years. The most recent version is Cancer Waiting Times Standards version 11.

The initial focus of these standards is to ensure patients are seen, diagnosed and treated against a series of timescales.

The required standards for cancer waiting times are:

• A maximum wait of 2 weeks to see a specialist after being urgently referred with suspected cancer by any healthcare professional.
• A maximum wait of 2 weeks to see a specialist after being referred urgently with symptoms, where cancer is not initially suspected.
• A maximum wait of 28 days to be informed if a patient has or doesn’t have a cancer diagnosis.
• A maximum wait of 31 days for any cancer treatment following consent (this includes surgery, anti-cancer drug regimens and radiotherapy).
• A maximum wait of 62 days for first treatment for those patients referred on an urgent suspected cancer pathway or from an NHS cancer screening service.
• A maximum wait of 62 days for first treatment for patients who were seen as routinely but were then upgraded to an urgent suspected cancer pathway by the clinician who saw them.

The Cancer Services team at Mid Yorkshire is responsible for tracking all patients who fall into the above cohorts in line with the most recent version of cancer waiting times. Mid Yorkshire Hospitals are required to report this information to a national team, this ensures we are continually working towards achieving the standards on a consistent basis.