A legislated, publicly reported 28-day standard from urgent referral to diagnosis
Set a legal limit: anyone referred with suspected cancer should be told within 28 days whether they have it. Publish how every hospital performs each month.
England's Faster Diagnosis Standard requires that 75% of patients referred urgently are told they have cancer or do not within 28 days, with monthly public reporting by trust. Whatever the debate on the threshold, the combination of a defined interval, a named responsible organisation, and public data has focused management attention on diagnostic pathways. Most countries have no equivalent. The proposal is to adopt and adapt it, with the threshold set by local capacity and tightened over time.
- Fragmented care and guideline gaps · Patients fall between specialists, wait for referrals and often do not get the treatment guidelines say they should.
- Most lethal cancers are found late · Screening exists for only a few cancers. Pancreatic, ovarian, liver, oesophageal and most lung cancers are found when cure is unlikely.
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not linked directly; found by shared links- IdeaCancer risk scores running automatically in GP records to prompt urgent referral
Shares Fragmented care and guideline gaps, Most lethal cancers are found late.
- IdeaA single 'cancer check at 60' appointment bundling all screening tests
Shares Fragmented care and guideline gaps, Most lethal cancers are found late.
- IdeaA cancer blood test for older people arriving at A&E with unexplained symptoms
Shares Fragmented care and guideline gaps, Most lethal cancers are found late.
- IdeaRecord and publish the symptom-to-diagnosis interval for every cancer, by hospital
Shares Fragmented care and guideline gaps, Most lethal cancers are found late.
- IdeaRapid diagnostic centres for people with vague but worrying symptoms
Shares Fragmented care and guideline gaps, Most lethal cancers are found late.
- IdeaOne-stop breast clinics: imaging, biopsy and a preliminary answer in a single visit
Shares Fragmented care and guideline gaps, Most lethal cancers are found late.
- CompanyGuardant Health
Shares Fragmented care and guideline gaps, Most lethal cancers are found late.