The leader of the Liberal Democrats has again called for the 62-day cancer treatment target to be made law.
Ed Davey spoke at his party conference on Tuesday, and shared the story of cancer patient Ian, who has since passed away following treatment delays.
Ian became a friend of Radiotherapy UK, and supported our #CatchUpWithCancer campaign, back in 2023.
His cancer, picked up by a national screening programme, eventually became incurable after a four-month wait to start treatment – a wait that should have been no more than 62 days according to government guidelines.
Ian told us he wanted to use the time he had left to help others, so they could be spared the same terrifying nightmare.
He spoke out through the BBC and Channel 4, and we introduced him to Ed Davey two years ago. Ed then raised Ian’s situation in his autumn 2023 party conference speech – drawing attention to this country’s continued failure to treat patients on time.
Speaking at the autumn 2023 conference, Ed Davey said:
“We owe patients better than that.
“We owe their families – their children and their loved ones – better than that.
“We owe Ian better than that.
“We must, must, must do better than that.”
Earlier in the year, we heard from Ian’s best friend. Ian had sadly (and needlessly) passed away.
When he should have been biking around Europe and enjoying his retirement, he is instead one of many to lose their lives because the UK cancer pathway is failing.
The 62-day treatment target, which at least 85% of patients should reach, states that a patient should get from an urgent referral for cancer, to a first treatment, within 62 days. It has not been met since 2015.
Yesterday Ed Davey spoke about Ian again, promising not to let the UK cancer crisis be forgotten, and to fight to have the 62-day treatment target made law.
We are proud of Ian for sharing his story, and grateful to Ed Davey for keeping the UK cancer crisis in the spotlight.
VIDEO: Ed Davey says 62-day treatment target should be law
Ian’s story, as told to Radiotherapy UK in 2023
Warning: contains descriptions of treatment delays and poor outcomes that some readers may find distressing.
Ian, 66, was diagnosed with cancer in 2021, despite feeling well and showing no symptoms. A national screening programme picked up a Stage One tumour in his bowel. His NHS consultant recommended chemotherapy and surgery but first sought a second opinion on some small nodules in Ian’s abdomen.
He was then referred to a specialist hospital and waited a month for another appointment. The consultant agreed Ian should have surgery and chemotherapy but thought chemotherapy had already been started. This was not the case, so Ian was referred back to his local hospital for chemotherapy and waited another month to start it. In total he waited four months to start any treatment.
Ian said: “The four months of waiting was the worst time of my life. I would wake up every morning wondering if I had a future. I tried to reach out to so many people, to see if they could help me get treatment, and no-one wanted to know.”
A PET scan before chemotherapy showed terrible news. The cancer had used the four-month delay to establish itself in Ian’s abdomen. Delays in sharing the next post-chemotherapy scan with the specialist hospital led to more waiting, and Ian was kept on treatment. The second scan report, although approved for surgery, came too late to be relied on, so another was needed.
Ian was approved for surgery and this took place in August 2022.
He then needed a temporary stoma because of his surgery which was due to be reversed in October 2022. A scan to check his bowel had healed showed that cancer had spread to his liver. The cancer, at this point, was operable, and Ian was given further chemotherapy, which left him with neuropathy and unable to do his hobbies, like sailing.
Further checks took four months, by which point, the liver tumours had grown and become inoperable. Another opportunity missed.
Ian said: “Our greatest tools are rapid diagnosis and timely treatment. That’s what fights cancer head-on. There’s much money being raised that’s going to the wrong end – supporting people that already have cancer. I didn’t need a goody bag now that I have Stage 4 cancer. I needed someone to stand beside me when I had Stage 1 cancer and help me get treatment.”
Ian eventually sought treatment abroad but sadly died in January 2025 after a three-year battle. He left a message with his best friend and asked Radiotherapy UK to keep campaigning.
Back in 2023, he had said: “I am sharing my experience in the hope that it will lead to change, so no one else has to go through this.
“Above all, we need to maximise those two prime weapons of early diagnosis and swift treatment in our fight against cancer.
“Cancer loves time. Early detection needs to be irreversibly coupled with action.”