DORSET medics have hit the Government's target on cancer referrals.

More than 85 per cent of cancer patients started their treatment within two months of GP referral.

During the 2017-18 financial year, 2,780 total cancer patients were referred to hospital urgently by their doctors, but 409 did not start their treatment within 62 days, according to NHS figures.

That means 85.3 per cent were seen within two months in the NHS Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group area, just clearing the government's operational target of 85 per cent.

The target is intended to allow for a minority of patients who choose to delay their course of treatment, which may be chemotherapy, surgery or radiation therapy.

Dorset CCG's figure is roughly the same as in 2016-17, when 86 per cent of patients started treatment two months after referral.

The county did well compared with England as a whole, where more than three quarters of all CCGs failed to hit the target.

The proportion of patients starting treatment within two months nationwide has dropped from 87.1 per cent in 2013 to 82.1 per cent last year. Nationally the target hasn't been hit since 2013.

Dr Jeanette Dickson, vice president of clinical oncology at the Royal College of Radiologists, said that while the figures were "a cause for concern" they were a crude measure for judging cancer diagnosis.

"In an ideal world we would want it to be 100 per cent," Dr Dickson said.

"There is currently a shortage of radiologists (doctors who give X-rays), and to a lesser extent oncologists (doctors specialising in cancer).

"Some people will choose to delay the treatment beyond the two month time period."

She said getting from the GP to treatment is a complicated process requiring many different appointments and staff, and the time periods required for treating different forms of cancer are vastly different.

"With your average male prostate cancer patient, you will do nothing but examine and watch for ten years," she said.

"However, with tongue cancer or aggressive lung cancer you need to start treatment within three weeks otherwise it's likely the patient will have less chance surviving."

An NHS England spokeswoman said: "Cancer survival is now at an all-time high, but as part of our push for earlier diagnosis the NHS is deliberately putting itself under pressure by significantly increasing the number of people referred for quick cancer checks.

"So last year over 1.9 million people were urgently referred for suspected cancer by their GP – half a million more than just three years ago."