Following the release of the latest NHS Wales Cancer Waiting Times figures please find a response from Macmillan Cancer Support – which you’re welcome to use in any write up.
Responding to the latest NHS Wales Cancer Waiting Times figures, Rhian Stangroom-Teel, External Affairs Manager for Wales at Macmillan Cancer Support, said:
“Everyone with cancer should be able to get the timely diagnosis and treatment they need, no matter who they are or where they live. The fact that over 5,500 people have been left to face long waits and delays to their cancer treatment since the start of this year alone, makes it clear that this is not happening right now in Wales. This is unacceptable, but it is fixable.
“These latest figures do show a very welcome improvement from last month and when compared to this time last year. But with Senedd elections on the horizon, now is the time for the Welsh Government to make cancer a priority, to deliver on the ambitions of its Cancer Improvement Plan, to make cancer care fair by addressing the inconsistencies that exist across the country, and to lead the way on making sure everyone with cancer in Wales can get the timely diagnosis and treatment they need.”
Fact box
Macmillan’s analysis of the latest official NHS data shows that performance against the national cancer waiting times target in Wales improved slightly in July compared with June and was also better than in July last year. The number of people starting cancer treatment was also the highest monthly figure on record. The target was still missed by a substantial margin, however, showing NHS cancer services in Wales remain under intense pressure[i].
- In July 2025, almost 900 people with cancer in Wales waited too long to start treatment[ii]
- The proportion of people who waited too long in July varied from 32% to 45% across local health boards in Wales[iii]
- Waiting times also vary considerably depending on which type of cancer people have. For example, in July 2025 only 32% of women and people assigned female at birth with gynecological cancer and 39% of people with urological cancer started their treatment within 62 days from first being suspected of having cancer, compared with 86.1% of those with skin cancer[iv]
- So far this year, more than 5,500 people with cancer in Wales waited too long to start treatment[v]
- Previous analysis by Macmillan shows that despite some recent improvements the national cancer waiting times target was missed again in Wales in 2024 as a whole, and average monthly performance in 2024 was still worse than when the target was first introduced in 2021[vi]
- Other recent analysis by Macmillan shows people who lived in the most deprived areas of Wales in 2024 were over 1.5 times more likely to die from cancer than people who lived in the least deprived areas after adjusting for age, and the gap is currently bigger than it was 20 years ago, even though the overall cancer mortality rate has fallen over this time[vii]
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