Waiting times for cancer diagnoses have fallen across the country as record amounts have been invested into the NHS.

According to the government, thanks to this investment, 80,000 people across the country have no faced shorted waits for their diagnoses.

Reforms have included a new drive to offer more appointments out of hours – which directly attributed to over three quarters (76.1 per cent) of patients receiving their cancer diagnosis or all clear within 28 days from July 2024 to January 2025, up from 71.8 per cent 12 months earlier.

Health and social care secretary Wes Streeting said: "This government made tough decisions at the Budget that put £26 billion into our NHS – and patients are already seeing the results.

"Too many cancer patients are facing agonisingly long waits for diagnosis and treatment. As a survivor, I know first hand just how important it is to receive timely diagnosis so treatment can begin as quickly as possible.

"We are on a mission to drive down waiting times and our Plan for Change is already getting patients seen and treated faster, with 80,000 more diagnosed or ruled out with cancer between July and January.

"This is just the start and we will continue driving fundamental reform of the NHS to ensure it is delivering for all patients once again."

Professor Peter Johnson, NHS national clinical director for cancer, said: "Providing rapid access to tests ensures that people with cancer can start treatment as soon as possible when it is most likely to be successful, and will help to put people’s minds at rest if they don’t have cancer, so it is an important step forward that thousands more patients each month are getting the all-clear or a diagnosis within 4 weeks.

"Thanks to the efforts of staff and NHS campaigns encouraging people to get worrying symptoms checked out or to take up our offer of screening, we are seeing more people coming forward than ever, and I encourage anyone who is overdue for a check or who has noticed changes in their body to contact their GP surgery as soon as possible so they can get checked."