Homerton Hospital misses cancer targets

Homerton Hospital has been downgraded by an NHS watchdog for its failure to meet its cancer treatment targets.

Monitor, the independent NHS regulator, changed Homerton Hospital’s risk rating from green to amber-green this spring when it found 21.4% of the hospital’s patients had to wait over 62 days for cancer treatment.

Monitor said the hospital had been downgraded in their quarterly report because it had “breached the 62 day cancer target,” meant to ensure that 85% of cancer patients are treated within 62 days of being referred by their GP.

An amber-green rating means there are “limited concerns” about whether a Trust is meeting its requirements for how it should operate.

The rating is back up to green in Monitor’s unpublished report for their next quarter (2012/13).

A Homerton Hospital spokesperson said: “The majority of breaches were due to either complex patient pathways or breaches due to patient choice. Detailed reviews have taken place and actions taken to minimise the level of breaches.”