§ Tim LoughtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what level of cancer referral target times were being missed in each hospital trust in(a) 2002 and (b) 2001. [83310]
§ Ms Blears[holding answer 25 November 2002]: The two week waiting time target from urgent referral by a general practitioner for patients with suspected cancer, to first out-patient appointment was introduced for urgent cases of suspected breast cancer from April 1999 and was extended to all other urgent cases of suspected cancer during 2000. Performance data against the standard for 2001 and the first quarter of 2002 have been placed in the Library. Data for non-urgent referrals are not collected centrally.