More than 130,000 cancer patients are waiting too long to receive crucial NHS treatment 

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More than 130,000 patients a year are not receiving vital NHS cancer care on time, as hospitals treat record numbers of people with the disease.

Doctors have warned the failure to meet waiting time targets, with thousands of patients waiting more than three months for treatment after being referred by a doctor, is causing greater stress and may even harm their chances of survival.

Last year 132,138 patients in England did not see a cancer specialist within the 14-day target. 

Nor did they start treatment, such as surgery or radiotherapy, within 31 days of diagnosis, or 62 days after initial consultation and tests, according to analysis of NHS data conducted by Cancer Research UK.

Last year 132,138 patients in England did not see a cancer specialist within the 14-day target, shocking new figures show

It comes as cancer diagnoses are set to rise still further from unhealthy British lifestyle choices including smoking, drinking and overeating.

Professor Peter Johnson, Cancer Research UK's chief clinician, told the Guardian: 'These figures are alarming. The number of people for whom these targets are being missed is a real source of concern.

'Delay creates additional anxiety for people. That matters for individual patients affected in a precise way because they have a prolonged period of uncertainty. Do I have cancer or do I not? And if I do have cancer, will it be curable?'

The leading NHS cancer specialist, and professor of medical oncology at Southampton University, said some delays may mean the chance to give curative treatment is lost, while others would get worse waiting for their test results.

'I'm pretty angry about that,' he added. 'This all reflects a system that's failing to meet the needs of people with cancer or suspected cancer.'

Delays in some hospitals have seen more than 6,000 people who should have had their first treatment within 62 days of being urgently referred by their GP were forced to wait 104 days or more.

It comes as cancer diagnoses are set to rise still further from unhealthy British lifestyle choices including smoking, drinking and overeating

Leading doctors say an NHS cash crisis has left the system unable to cope with the 1.5 million people a year sent for tests by their family doctor after being suspected of having cancer.

A lack of scanners and key staff like radiologists have been highlighted.

The analysis shows that 101,140 people with suspected cancer did not get to see a specialist within 14 days of being referred as urgent cases in 2015-16.

An extra 6,713 who were found to have cancer did not receive their first treatment within 31 days - the target introduced by the previous Labour government in 2009.

And a further 24,285 were not treated within 62 days.

Medical experts fear the NHS is increasingly ill prepared to provide timely care to those who will be diagnosed with cancer in the future as the population ages.

The targets analysed state that hospitals in England should ensure 93 per cent of those referred by a GP should see a specialist within two weeks, 96 per cent diagnosed should get their treatment within 31 days and 85 per cent should start urgent treatment within 62 days of referral.

That last target has been breached in every quarter for the last two and a half years.

Dr Giles Maskell, until recently president of the Royal College of Radiologists, said: 'There are gaps right across the NHS cancer workforce, including oncologists, therapists, nutritionists, nurse specialists and other groups.

'The shortage of radiologists – who interpret x-rays and scans – is so serious that one university hospital in the south-east recently had 11 of its 33 consultant radiologist posts unfilled because there were too few applicants.

'While another teaching hospital in the north-west has eight of its 36 posts unfilled, and seven have been vacant for over a year.'

The Department of Health declined to comment directly on the large numbers of patients not getting care within the target times.

A spokesman said: 'Cancer survival rates have never been higher and just this week the NHS announced a new £130 million investment to kickstart the upgrade of radiotherapy equipment and transform cancer treatment across England.

'The reality is the NHS is seeing over 90 per cent more patients with suspected cancer within two weeks – that's over 800,000 more people – and treating nearly 50,000 more patients following a GP referral compared to 2010.'