SOME suspected cancer patients are not being seen early enough, official statistics show.
Government targets state that 95 per cent of patients urgently referred by their GP should begin treatment within 62 days.
But in March, only 72 per cent were treated within the target - a drop from 79 per cent during the same month last year.
The statistics were released by the Department of Health yesterday.
Waiting times for breast cancer patients have dramatically increased in the first three months of this year.
The percentage of patients seen within 14 days following an urgent referral decreased from 94.4 per cent in January to 82.2 per cent in March.
But March's figure was still a huge improvement on last year. In March 2014 just 52.8 per cent of suspected breast cancer patients were seen within 14 days.
Earlier this month The Irish News revealed that breast cancer targets for urgent cases were being missed on a massive scale in the Belfast trust area.
A leaked 'performance report' showed just 16 per cent of women with suspected breast cancer - classed as 'red flag' patients by their GPs - got an appointment with a consultant within the 14-day target at the Belfast health trust in April.
Ulster Unionist health spokeswoman Jo-Anne Dobson expressed concern about the latest statistics.
The Upper Bann MLA said: "Given that getting treatment as early as possible gives cancer patients the best chance of survival, the current inadequate performance means that lives are being put at risk."
