Local NHS fails cancer wait time target as 689 people wait more than two weeks to see a specialist.

While the NHS target is for 93% of patients to see a cancer specialist after a referral, locally this was the case for just 84% of patients.

Leicestershire Liberal Democrats have called on the Government to bring forward an urgent plan to improve cancer care in light of the revelations.

Nationwide, 108 NHS trusts miss the two week cancer referral target. A staggering 62,360 people had to wait more than two weeks to see a cancer specialist after a GP referral in August alone.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat leader of the opposition on Leicestershire County Council Councillor Michael Mullaney said:

"It is deeply upsetting that so many people in Leicestershire are being let down. Early cancer diagnosis is crucial, and too few are seeing a specialist in good time.

"The government has failed to come up with a proper plan to help people as targets for waiting times are missed month after month in our area.

"Our NHS is being run into the ground, from ballooning ambulance waits to understaffed hospitals, and this Conservative government has done little but shrug its shoulders. It's just not good enough and people here deserve better.

"We need an urgent plan to improve cancer care and to save our local health services. People are worried sick about what could happen if they get a terrible diagnosis too late. More inaction is not an option."

Official target from the NHS is that 93% of people should see a consultant within 14 days from urgent GP referral with suspected cancer. In the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust it was 689 cases of people waiting longer or just 84% of people being seen within 14 days. In the George Eliot NHS Trust the figures were even more worrying with over a third of people missing the two week target. With 194 cases of people waiting for longer than the two weeks