BREAST cancer patients are waiting up to twice as long as they should to be seen at Colchester General Hospital.

Health bosses revealed there has been 40 per cent more first time patient referrals so far this year, compared to the last three months of 2018.

This is equivalent to 80 extra patients a month, bringing the monthly total to at least 280 patients.

The hospital’s cancer specialities are all “struggling to keep up with demand”, it has revealed, but breast cancer referrals are particularly high.

A meeting of the hospital trust’s board of directors heard appointments are normally offered to patients within two weeks of them being referred for the first time by their doctor.

But trust managing director Neill Moloney said patients were waiting three to four weeks.

He said: “That is substantially higher than it should look like.

“We have put on capacity to meet that demand and meet the current level of referrals coming through.

“We will work to eliminate the waits over the next month or so.”

The hospital has been offering extra clinics, including all day Saturdays, to try to meet demand.

Mr Moloney said the hospital would also look at working with other health partners to provide short term capacity.

Dr Shane Gordon, trust director of strategy, research and innovation, said the increase in referrals seemed to be local rather than national.

He said: “We need more understanding for the driver of that sharp increase in that activity.”

A report to the meeting added consultant radiologist vacancies in Colchester “has put additional pressure on the system which has resulting in significant amount of breaches”.

The national target is for 93 per cent of first referral patients to be seen in two weeks but the trust’s March rate was 86.6 per cent.

It added: “This has in turn impacted on the overall[[trust] position. A locum has been secured on a 12 month fixed term contract however there is still a 0.8wte consultant vacancy which will go out to advert again next month.”

Trust chief executive Nick Hulme yesterday issued a statement apologising to patients kept waiting for an appointment and said waiting times “have reached new heights”.

He said: “Our specialist nurses are contacting all our patients who have waited longer than 14 days for an appointment following a breast cancer referral so they can give an update and explanation about what is happening and make sure people know that an appointment is being made for them.”

“A 30 per cent increase represents 20 extra patients on average each week which requires a full Saturday clinic every single week to keep up with demand.

"Our breast team have worked very hard since January to deal with the demand and we are exploring other options currently to deal with demand and working with North East Essex Clinical Commissioning Group.

"Extra clinics are being run as often as we can.

"An increase in demand is also being seen at Ipswich so regular additional weekend clinics are being organised and although Ipswich are just keeping to within 14 days, they do not have the additional capacity to then see any Colchester patients”.