Will the Cabinet Secretary confirm what the Welsh government is doing to reduce variation in waiting times for breast cancer treatment between health boards?
The Welsh Government’s quality statement for cancer describes what good looks like for cancer services across all parts of Wales. This is underpinned by nationally optimised pathways for each cancer type that provide timed pathways of care describing how organisations can achieve the suspected cancer pathway target.
Our expectation is that all health boards should be working to achieve the national target of at least 75% of people referred on the suspected cancer pathway starting first definitive treatment within 62 days of the point of suspicion.
We continue to work with the NHS Executive and health boards to highlight and promote examples of good practice, reduce unwarranted variation and drive sustainable improvement for cancer waiting times across all parts of Wales, including a focus on component waits across the pathway and increasing straight-to-test rates.