Many GP cancer referrals too slow, NHS England data suggests 7 December 2013 Last updated at 02:15 Thousands of people eventually diagnosed with cancer are not being referred to specialists quickly enough by GPs, NHS England figures suggest. An NHS target states that 95% of people with suspected cancer should be seen by a specialist within two weeks. But the data indicates that this target was not met in more than half of the 4,000 GP surgeries sampled. NHS England said the figures were not a clear measure of performance, as some patients did not have obvious symptoms. The report comes after Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said every patient had the right to the best care, and that a new inspection system for GPs would tackle what he described as an unacceptable variation of care across the country. National performance data allows patients to look up their GP surgery and see how it performs against dozens of diagnosis and treatment indicators. NHS England collected the figures on cancer referral rates from GP surgeries across the country as part of a drive to make the health service more transparent. Transparency applauded Early diagnosis is seen as the most important factor in tackling cancer. In 59% of the GP practices sampled, fewer than half the patients subsequently found to have the disease had been referred to a specialist within the two-week target. In one in six surgeries, doctors are said to have failed to make an urgent referral in at least two thirds of these cases. And in some practices, only one in 10 patients later found to have cancer had been referred within the target time. Sean Duffy from NHS England told the BBC the figures could not be used as a simple measure of GP performance because not all cancer patients would have visited their doctors with clear symptoms. And Dr Mike Bewick, deputy medical director at NHS England, told the Daily Telegraph some signs of cancer, including tiredness, or weight loss, were more difficult for GPs to interpret than more obvious "red flag" signals such as passing blood or a persistent cough. But he added some of the poor results on cancer referrals were "not acceptable." "I hope this transparency will be applauded and used as a tool to ensure better outcomes," he said, calling on GPs with very low rates of urgent referral for cancer to look closely at their performance.