Doctors and nurses across Dorset have met controversial targets set by the government on cancer referrals.

Figures released by NHS Digital have revealed that 85.3 per cent of cancer patients started their treatment within two months of GP referral, just clearing the government’s operational target of 85 per cent.

The figures show that in the Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group Area, 2,780 total cancer patients were referred to hospital urgently by their doctors during the 2017-18 financial year.

However, 409 did not start their treatment within 62 days.

The 85 per cent target is intended to allow for a minority of patients who choose to delay their course of treatment, which may be chemotherapy, surgery or radiation therapy.

The 2017-18 figure is a slight increase on 2016-17 when 86 per cent of patients started treatment two months after referral. However, across England as a whole, more than three-quarters of all CCGs failed to hit the target with the average proportion of patients starting treatment within two months nationwide dropping from 87.1 per cent in 2013 to 82.1 per cent last year.

Consequently, the national target has not been met for the last five years.

Dr Jeanette Dickson, vice president of clinical oncology at the Royal College of Radiologists, said that while the figures were “a cause for concern” they were a crude measure for judging cancer diagnosis.

She said: “In an ideal world we would want it to be 100 per cent. There is currently a shortage of radiologists (doctors who give X-rays), and to a lesser extent oncologists (doctors specialising in cancer).

“Some people will choose to delay the treatment beyond the two month time period.”

She added getting from the GP to treatment is a complicated process requiring many different appointments and staff, and the time periods required for treating different forms of cancer are vastly different.

“With your average male prostate cancer patient, you will do nothing but examine and watch for ten years. However, with tongue cancer or aggressive lung cancer you need to start treatment within three weeks otherwise it’s likely the patient will have less chance surviving.”

Commenting on the statistics, a spokesperson for NHS England said: “Cancer survival is now at an all-time high.

“But as part of our push for earlier diagnosis the NHS is deliberately putting itself under pressure by significantly increasing the number of people referred for quick cancer checks.

“So last year over 1.9 million people were urgently referred for suspected cancer by their GP – half a million more than just three years ago.”