Diagnosis
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of patients with urgent GP referral receive a (a) diagnosis and (b) ruling out within 28 days.
Answered by Mrs Sharon Hodgson
Data is not published separately for just urgent general practice (GP) referrals. However, urgent GP referrals account for approximately 90% of faster diagnosis standard referral activity, with the remaining activity relating to screening and breast symptomatic referrals.
The latest published quarterly data for England for all faster diagnosis standard referral routes, including urgent GP referrals, shows that in quarter four of 2025/26:
54% of patients referred were diagnosed with cancer within 28 days; and
79.3% of patients referred had cancer ruled out within 28 days.
This information is published at the following link:
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