Getting There on Time: Time to Treatment in Cancer in Europe

 

Receiving a cancer diagnosis is a life-altering moment. For patients, the period between diagnosis and the start of treatment often becomes an agonising wait, amplifying feelings of anxiety, helplessness, and emotional distress. The consequences of delayed treatment can be particularly severe for certain types of cancer, where even a delay of a few weeks can greatly impact treatment outcomes.

Cancer patients should be protected from the psychological and physical effects of delayed treatment. Our health systems must become more efficient to ensure all patients receive timely quality care.

The new Policy Action report, ‘Getting There on Time: Time to Treatment in Cancer in Europe’ reflects the perspectives, recommendations and advice collected during a specially convened expert roundtable event in July 2024.

Amongst the main policy recommendations outlined in the report are:

• Realistic goals for treatment timelines after diagnosis should be incorporated in clinical guidelines, national policies, (including cancer plans) and European cancer initiatives, such as the EU Network of Comprehensive Cancer Centres.
• Delays in commencing cancer treatment should be systematically recorded and published to identify areas for improvement.

The report also recommended:

• Digital systems deployed in cancer centres should be utilised to bring greater visibility to the time being taken between processes in a patient’s treatment journey. This enables better visibility for management on areas of time lag and where improvement might be most effectively made.
• The cost savings for healthcare systems in reducing treatment delay should be better understood to help incentivise necessary investment in improving processes.
• Accelerated access schemes can be an effective means to help overcome entrenched delays in a new treatment advancing from approval to patient access. However, evidence of their operation so far points to an ongoing need to align internationally on the evidence package requirements associated to their use. Inconsistent evidence requirements otherwise retards the effective adoption of such schemes.

Insights and case studies from across Europe are now available in the Policy Action Report. Discover them today!