Hospital trusts have failed to hit the 62 day time limit from cancer referral to start of treatment every month for four years.

Basildon and Thurrock and Southend NHS Trusts have both failed to get enough cancer patients into treatment quickly enough.

The target is referral to treatment within two months 85 per cent of the time. Southend NHS Trust, as of December last year, are only getting 63.3 per cent of patients seen in time.

Basildon and Thurrock NHS Trust, which sees 1,800 cancer patients referred each month, fairs slightly better with 73.5 per cent.

It has not managed to meet its target since December 2014, with Southend not meeting target since January 2015 – both standing at four years in a row below target.

Out of the 131 trusts in the UK, Southend is ranked 130th for the amount of cancer patients put on treatment within 62 days of referral. Basildon sits at 113th.

In response to the figures, released by NHS England, Basildon and Thurrock NHS Trust stated it has “consistently delivered” on the standard of seeing cancer patients within 14 days of referral even if treatment has been delayed.

It also stated it gets patients their first appointment within seven days in 60 per cent of cases and it would be redesigning services to be able to support achieving the 62 day standard including faster access for patients to get diagnostic tests.

Fiona Ryan, director of operations for planned care at Basildon Hospital said: “Improving our delivery of cancer care is an area of daily focus for us and we are working tirelessly to provide a better service to patients.

“We have agreed an improvement plan to deliver the 62-day standard, working closely with our partner hospitals who play a vital part in the delivery of cancer care for our patients.

“We are seeing a gradual improvement in our performance and will continue to do our best to offer patients with cancer the high quality care and treatment they deserve.”

Clare Burns, director of operations for elective care at Southend Hospital, said the hospital was working hard to reduce waiting times for cancer patients but admitted a lot more work is needed.

She also stated the planned merger of services between Basildon, Southend and Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford would help to reduce waiting times.

She said: “We are working to reduce current waiting times for cancer care but recognise that there is more to be done both at Southend but also with our partner hospitals across Essex who play a vital part in the delivery of cancer care for our patients.

“We are already making progress with reducing cancer waiting times, with a reduction in the number of patients with very long waiting times and we have increased the number of suspected cancer outpatient appointments following a referral from their GP.

"These changes, alongside our plans to bring clinical services together will mean we can improve cancer waiting times.”