Skin cancer care waiting lists have soared by a quarter since the pandemic, with patients facing delays of up to a year in starting treatment.
Now politicians are calling for VAT to be scrapped on high-factor sunscreen so more people can afford to protect themselves.
Responses from 49 NHS trusts in England show that 38,392 patients joined a waiting list to start skin cancer treatment in 2023-24. This is up 25.8 per cent from the 30,521 in 2019-20. Also, 3,571 waited longer than the 62-day standard to start treatment last year.
Seventy-eight waited more than six months and some waited almost a year. The longest wait was at Norwich and Norfolk NHS trust, where a patient was on the list for 345 days after an urgent referral. Breaches of the 62-day target are up almost four-fold over this period, from 988 in 2019-20.
The true figures are likely to be higher as some trusts did not reply to Freedom of Information requests from the Liberal Democrats.
The party’s health spokesman Daisy Cooper called NHS cancer services ‘shocking and tragic’.
She called on the Government to scrap VAT on high-factor suncream, recruit more cancer nurses and offer a 100 per cent guarantee that patients will start cancer treatment within 62 days of an urgent referral. Sunscreen is taxed at the standard rate of VAT, 20 per cent. Removing that VAT would save shoppers £67million a year.
It is estimated the cost to the NHS of treating skin cancer will grow to £465million by next year.
A survey for charity Melanoma Focus last year found half the public think sunscreen is too expensive, with one in ten saying they do not use it because it is too expensive.
Ms Cooper said: ‘The staggering increase in referrals shows we must do more to prevent people getting skin cancer in the first place.
‘That means making it affordable for people to protect themselves by cutting VAT on high-factor protective sunscreen and securing a public commitment from major retailers that they will pass on the financial benefit to consumers.
‘We need to ensure that all patients start treatment as soon as possible and this government needs to make recruiting more cancer nurses a top priority.’
Susanna Daniels, of Melanoma Focus, said: ‘Cutting VAT on high-factor sunscreen would be a major step forward against the alarming rise in skin cancer cases in the UK.
'Skin cancers, particularly melanoma, can be deadly, yet they are largely preventable.
'Sunscreen is an essential tool in this prevention alongside covering up and seeking shade during the heat of the day and avoiding sunbeds.
'However, with the ongoing strain on household budgets, many people are struggling to afford this vital product.
'We, in collaboration with other charities, cross-party politicians, patients and medical professionals, have been advocating for the removal of VAT on SPF 30+ sunscreen as part of our VAT Burn campaign and we’re delighted to see the Liberal Democrats adding their voice to this call.'
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: ‘Too many cancer patients are waiting too long for treatment, and we are determined to change that.
‘As part of our mission to get the NHS back on its feet, we will improve cancer survival rates by hitting all NHS cancer waiting time and early diagnosis targets within five years.
‘High-factor sunscreen is on the NHS prescription list for certain conditions and is already provided VAT free when dispensed by a pharmacist to these patients.’
