Timeline from cancer diagnosis to treatment (FOI)

​​Request

Please advise, in relation to cancer, the average timeline (in weeks), from first consultation to diagnose cancer, to the start of treatment.

Response

There is currently no central record of, or mechanism within electronic patient records enabling reporting of, date of diagnosis or treatment start date. Whilst information on date of first presentation / diagnosis and commencement of treatment would be documented within the clinical notes of an individual’s medical record, significant manual interrogation of individual case notes would be required to identify the requested information, with creation and analysis of the corresponding datasets also required. Scheduled Public Authorities are not obliged to create or manipulate data for the purpose of responding to Freedom of Information requests, and manual examination of records would exceed the timescales prescribed in the Freedom of Information (Costs) (Jersey) Regulations 2014. Therefore, Article 16 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has been applied.

Variables that may influence the period from diagnosis to treatment include the organ or system affected, the treatment pathway or particular course of treatment prescribed, whether off-island treatment is required, and if further investigations or preparation are required ahead of treatment, as well as individual choice or time to consider the options available.

Article applied

Article 16 - A scheduled public authority may refuse to supply information if cost excessive

(1) A scheduled public authority that has been requested to supply information may refuse to supply the information if it estimates that the cost of doing so would exceed an amount determined in the manner prescribed by Regulations. ​