AROUND three-quarters of people urgently referred to University Hospital Southampton Trust with suspected bowel cancer receive a diagnosis or an all-clear within four weeks, figures reveal.

Cancer support charities say urgent investment is required to tackle workforce shortages and reduce waiting times which they say can tragically slim patients’ chances of survival.

The figures come just months away from the introduction of a new NHS target for three-quarters of all suspected cancer patients to get their diagnosis within four weeks.

NHS England figures show in June, 265 out of 365 patients (73 per cent) with suspected cancer at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust had received their test results within 28 days of an urgent GP referral.

Of the patients who were forced to wait longer, four had to wait at least 62 days. Proportionately, suspected bowel cancer patients were more likely to wait over four weeks than those being tested for breast, lung or skin cancers following an urgent referral to the trust.

The figures exclude those referred through screening programmes, where it is not mandatory to log the cancer type.

From October, NHS trusts will be required to provide a result to 75 per cent of all suspected cancer patients within four weeks as part of the new faster diagnosis standard.

It is aimed at getting treatment started sooner to those who need it, and placing minds at rest more quickly for those who are all-clear. But charity Bowel Cancer UK said staffing shortages meant more funding was needed to carry out enough endoscopies, which can diagnose bowel cancer.

Chief executive Genevieve Edwards said: “Bowel cancer is the UK’s second biggest cancer killer, but it is treatable and curable, especially if diagnosed early, and it is tragic some patients face poorer outcomes as a result of having to wait too long for tests and treatment.”