LONDON: Waiting times for cancer patients to start treatment increased across the UK over the past 12 years, with a dramatic rise after the COVID-19 pandemic, latest analysis of health service data showed Friday.

While cancer wait times have been "broadly stable" in the last two years, there has been a general upward trend since 2012, with a sharp rise in 2022 after the pandemic, according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS).

Nearly half of all cancer patients in Wales and a third in England had to wait longer than the recommended 62-day standard time between the disease being detected and the start of treatment in the second quarter of 2024.

In Northern Ireland, the figure was as high as 66% in the latest available data from the third quarter of 2023.

Scotland, where healthcare is devolved to the Scottish government, had the lowest rate among UK nations with just below 30% of patients waiting longer than 62 days.

Even so, the proportion of patients waiting had increased from 5.2% in 2012.

Britain's National Health Service (NHS) is struggling to clear a backlog built up during the pandemic and worsened by staff shortages and strikes over pay.

Several studies show that delays in cancer diagnosis and treatment can worsen survival outcomes.