Impact of 'Two-Week Wait' Referrals for Suspected Bone or Soft Tissue Sarcoma

Abstract

The two-week wait (2ww) process has been in force since 2000 as part of the reform of cancer services in the NHS to ensure timely specialist review of patients with suspected cancer. In addition, more recently implemented waiting time standards dictate that for an urgent GP referral under the 2ww the time to diagnosis (decision to treat) should be less than 1 month (31-day rule) and from December 2005 the total time allowable from referral to treatment has been no more than two months (62-day rule). The Department of Health (DH) guidelines for referral under the 2ww have been unaltered since their inception (Figure 1).