HUNDREDS of NHS patients across Sussex diagnosed with cancer are waiting more than two months before starting treatment.

They include people with breast, stomach, bladder, lung, kidney and prostate cancers.

The country’s leading cancer charity, Cancer Research UK, has called for action to end the extended waiting times.

Patient groups are monitoring the situation and calling on people affected to get in touch.

Figures show over the course of 2014, 620 people waited too long for chemotherapy, radiotherapy and other forms of medication for cancer.

Hospital bosses have said part of the problem is caused by an increase in demand for services, with more people being diagnosed each year.

There have also been equipment problems with pieces breaking down on several occasions.

Labour Party figures show Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust had 179 patients waiting for treatment in 2014, a 39% rise on the year before.

Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust had 182 patients while East Sussex Healthcare had 259.

Patients are supposed to get their first treatment within 62 days of receiving an urgent GP referral for suspected cancer, according to the NHS Constitution.

However, the NHS in England missed the target for all four quarters in 2014.

Labour prospective parliamentary candidate for Hove, Peter Kyle, said: “When it comes to cancer, time is everything.

“We know in some cases any delays to receiving treatment can harm people’s chances of survival. “Labour is committed to cancer tests and results within one week to help end the scandal of people waiting too long for treatment.”

Sarah Woolnough, from Cancer Research UK, said the NHS needed support to solve the problem.

She said: “These targets exist to ensure swift diagnosis of cancer and access to treatment, which is vital if we’re serious about having the best cancer survival in the world.

“Patients need the confidence that cancer is being taken seriously and prioritised by the NHS. The breaches of this target must end, which is why urgent action must be taken to support the NHS.”

A spokesman for Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust said: “We try to provide our cancer patients with as much support as they need and we are working to ensure they are treated as quickly as possible.

“We are adding new radiotherapy machines and replacing existing old machines that will allow us to treat more patients.

“We are introducing new rapid diagnostic clinics to make the service more efficient and we are using other local service providers to help with the growing number of patients needing treatment.”

East Sussex Healthcare chief operating officer Richard Sunley said the increase in the amount of patients waiting was down to the trust becoming the Sussex wide urological cancer centre.

He added: “We have a plan to reduce the number of patients waiting and are working closely with our commissioners.”

Western Sussex Hospitals medical director George Findlay said: “We provided care to more cancer patients last year than in 2013 and overall more patients received the treatments they needed within the 62 day target.

“We will continue to do all we can to meet the rising demand for cancer services so all our patients receive the care they need more quickly.”

Director of Healthwatch East Sussex, Julie Fitzgerald, said the group would be monitoring the situation and writing to the three East Sussex clinical commissioning groups to ask what are their strategies are.

Region not hitting targets set by NHS

The target set by NHS England is for 85% of cancer patients to start their treatment before 62 days.

The most recent figures available show that between October and December last year, Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust achieved 72.4% and East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust stood at 78.1%.

However Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust exceeded the target at 87.8%.

Treatment needs to begin as quickly as possible for those with more aggressive and fast-spreading cancers such as pancreatic, oesophageal, liver and breast cancer.