A record 3 million patients have undergone urgent NHS cancer checks as the ... trends now
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The number of patients undergoing urgent cancer tests has topped three million in a year for the first time – more than doubling over the past decade.
Latest NHS figures show a record 3,035,698 people were referred for checks from March 2023 to February this year.
The figure is 150,000 more than during the same period in 2022-23 and more than twice the 1,335,350 tested between March 2013 and February 2014.
The rocketing number of referrals is part of a drive to diagnose the disease earlier so it can be treated more easily and effectively.
More cancers than ever are now being caught at stages one and two before it has spread to the surrounding tissues.
The number of patients undergoing urgent cancer tests has topped three million in a year for the first time – more than doubling over the past decade (stock photo)
The push is being boosted by the Princess of Wales's brave announcement last month that she is having preventative chemotherapy after having unspecified abdominal surgery.
In February alone, more than a 250,000 checks were conducted, a rise of more than 10 per cent compared to the same month in 2023.
Last week the NHS exceeded its 28-day diagnosis target for the first time, with more than three-quarters of patients (78 per cent) receiving the all-clear or a diagnosis within four weeks of an urgent referral by their GP.
Professor Peter Johnson, NHS clinical director for cancer and one of Britain's leading
