THE MP for Tiverton and Minehead is pushing for changes to medical practices after data revealed cancer care patients in Somerset are having to wait more than 62 days for treatment to begin.

Liberal Democrat MP Rachel Gilmour, has called for a “cancer care guarantee”, which would ensure 100 per cent of patients start treatment within two months.

Data analysed by the Liberal Democrats also suggested 140 trusts missed this deadline, while only 27 trusts hit the date target — of which 12 only recorded one patient being treated.

Eleven trusts across England said they had at least 50 per cent of cancer patients waited 62 days. Every four-week delay reportedly reduces a patient’s survival by an average of 10 per cent, which Mrs Gilmour says leaves patients and their loved ones in limbo with agonising waits.

Locally, under the Somerset NHS Foundation Trust patients waiting for 62 days or more was 29.28 per cent. This number had risen from 2023-2025 figures, from 1,012 to 1,237.

Mrs Gilmour said: “We all know someone who has been through the shattering experience of a cancer diagnosis, and it is truly heartbreaking to hear that patients in Tiverton and Minehead are waiting for months on end to get the care they need.

“Under the Conservatives, Cancer services across the South West were left on their knees. But Labour have not moved fast enough, and patients and their loved ones are still being left in limbo waiting too long for much needed treatment.

“Cancer care is deeply personal to me, and I know the truly amazing impact that the NHS can have on cancer outcomes – but not if you have to wait for seven weeks for an urgent referral. The anguish that leaves with the patient and their families does not bear thinking about.”