NHS Compensates £45m in Record Payouts For Delayed Cancer Diagnoses

The NHS paid a record £45 million in compensation to cancer patients in 2024 after failing to diagnose the disease early enough, new figures show.

Damages paid for missed or delayed cancer diagnoses have almost quadrupled since the Covid pandemic. In the four years since 2020, nearly 1,500 claims have resulted in payouts totalling £179 million, compared with £55 million paid across 580 cases in the four years before the pandemic.

In 2024–25 alone, compensation paid to hospital patients where the NHS admitted fault for failing to spot cancer earlier rose to £44.7 million. A record 364 payouts were made during the year — the equivalent of one missed or misdiagnosed cancer case every day.

Suzanne Trask, of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers, said: "There needs to be an overarching strategy to tackle negligent failures in NHS care, with a focus on learning lessons so that mistakes are not repeated."

Patients can bring negligence claims where doctors have misread medical evidence such as scans, biopsies or blood tests, or where diagnoses were delayed because of administrative errors or wider hospital delays. Compensation for missed cancer diagnoses averages about £120,000 per case, though patients who require severe or life-changing treatment that might have been avoided with earlier detection can receive significantly more.

Data released by NHS Resolution under freedom of information laws shows that in some years individual payouts for misdiagnosed cancer cases exceeded £1 million. The figures also reveal that in 2024 there were 1,950 compensation cases linked to failures or delays in diagnosing any medical condition, costing the NHS £391 million.

Overall, the NHS clinical negligence bill has risen to around £3 billion, prompting scrutiny of the role of no-win, no-fee lawyers, who critics say can earn more than the patients themselves from public funds. Lawyers argue the high costs stem from delays in settling claims. MPs on the Public Accounts Committee are examining the system, including the fact that patients can receive corrective treatment on the NHS at no cost.

The NHS has three main cancer care targets: diagnosing or ruling out cancer within 28 days for at least 75 per cent of urgent referrals; starting treatment within 31 days of a treatment decision for 96 per cent of patients; and beginning treatment within 62 days of an urgent referral for at least 85 per cent of cases.

Figures published on Thursday show the first target was met in October 2025, with 76.1 per cent of patients receiving a diagnosis within four weeks. That benchmark is due to rise to 80 per cent from March 2026. However, only 68.8 per cent of patients began treatment within 62 days of an urgent referral — a target missed for the past decade — while 92.5 per cent started treatment within 31 days of a treatment decision.

An NHS England spokesperson said: "The NHS is focused on catching cancers at an early stage when they are easier to treat, with record numbers of people receiving cancer checks. We are determined to go further through the new National Cancer Plan, which we are developing with government."

PM Law