The NHS trust running hospitals serving Redbridge said it is now meeting cancer referral targets after previously having the longest waiting times in London.

Figures show Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust (BHRUT) saw just 79.5 per cent of cancer referrals within 14 days, significantly lower than the national target of 93 per cent.

Between April and June, 156 patients were not seen by a specialist until almost a month after being referred.

BHRUT, currently in special measures with a debt of around £40million, operates Queen’s Hospital in Romford and King George Hospital in Goodmayes.

But the trust’s chief operating officer, Eileen Moore, said the trust has met the 93 per cent target since these July, and the poor figures for April to June were due to an increase in referrals to the oncology service.

She said: “We have worked hard to ensure that patients are seen as quickly as possible and receiving quality care.

“Our two-week wait performance has improved significantly in recent months, and we have hit the national target of 93 per cent consistently since July.

“Earlier in the year we saw a substantial increase in the number of referrals to our oncology service, particularly of women with suspected breast cancer.

“We did not react quickly enough to deal with this extra number of referrals, which meant that some people were having to wait longer than we would have liked.

“We have now introduced new processes which include a daily review of our capacity and all of the referrals we have received. This has led to a far better service for our patients.”