§ Mrs. CaltonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of delays in the diagnosis of myeloma. [122027]
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§ Miss Melanie JohnsonThe NHS Cancer Plan sets out our strategy to reduce waiting times for cancer patients. A two week out-patient waiting time standard was introduced for all urgently referred cases of suspected cancer from 2000. Myeloma is included in leukaemia waiting times and in the last quarter, January-March 2003, 98.7 per cent. of all urgently referred cases of suspected leukaemia were seen within two weeks. From 2001, a maximum waiting time of one month from urgent referral to first treatment was introduced for urgently referred cases of suspected leukaemia and in the last quarter 98.6 per cent. of patients were treated within a month of referral. Data on all current cancer waiting times targets are published on the Department's website at www.doh.gov.uk/cancerwaits.