Cancer Delays in the NHS – Astronomical AI

The key goals of Astronomical AI are to create an AI tool that reduces waiting times for the diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer and improve the workflow of the Oncology department. With this in mind, I came across a BBC Breakfast Segment which was followed up with a BBC article titled: 'Cancer care delays: How bad are they in your area?' The segment and article highlight a rise in long waits for cancer therapy in the last 4 years. The number of people waiting for cancer treatment in the UK has doubled since 2018, the number of people waiting for more than 62 days from referral to treatment (62 days being the maximum target wait time from the NHS, from urgent cancer referral to treatment being started) has risen to over 69,000. This is resulting in patients dying from long delays between diagnosis and treatment.