§ Lord Marlesfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
What they regard as the maximum acceptable period for a National Health Service patient to have to wait for a biopsy for a suspected tumour, once the biopsy has been requested by a doctor; and whether there is any provision for a patient to be able to recover from public funds the cost of having the biopsy done privately in cases when the waiting period is longer than that laid down. [HL4176]
§ Lord Hunt of Kings HeathThe NHS Cancer Plan published in September sets out new waiting targets for cancer treatment which will be implemented over the next five years. These will build on the two week outpatient waiting times standard that has been in place for all urgent breast cancer referrals from April 1999 and which is currently being rolled out for all urgent suspected cancer referrals.
By 2005 cancer patients will wait a maximum of one month from diagnosis to treatment and a maximum of two months from urgent general practitioner referral to treatment. Our ultimate goal is that no patient should wait longer than one month from an urgent referral for suspected cancer to the beginning of 101WA treatment except for a good clinical reason or through personal choice.
There is no provision for a patient to recover from public funds the cost of having a biopsy done privately. The Government's priority remains the modernisation of the NHS so that patients receive a high quality clinically appropriate service when and where they need it by making maximum use of all appropriate facilities and developing new services if necessary.