Chemotherapy units 'stretched to the limit' She continued: "Many have considered chemotherapy units to have elastic walls but they are stretched to the limit now. More often than not, it's about capacity: we don't have the chair space. Clinics frequently ran into the evenings, with extra ones on Saturdays. When patients arrived with a set appointment time they were "waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting," she said, sometimes all day. "If you've a tumour in your backside, you don't want to be sitting in a chair all day," she added. The pressures were not yet impacting on waiting time targets, she said, but she feared they soon would. Hospitals are meant to ensure that all patients receive their first cancer treatment - be that chemotherapy or something else - within 31 days of diagnosis, or within 62 days of a consultant's decision to prioritise them. But Dr Lennan, a board member of the UK Oncology Nursing Society, said: "We will start breaching the targets if things don't improve. People will have to wait longer. A report commissioned by Roche, which makes cancer drugs, found 84 per cent of oncology pharmacists and 71 per cent of specialist oncology nurses thought capacity problems were leading to poorer patient care. Between two-thirds and three-quarters also thought the issue would lead to longer waiting times, if it was not addressed. Graham Jackson, professor of clinical haematology at Newcastle University, said capacity problems were the result of the "success story" of people living longer with cancer. He said: "People are living longer, so they are getting third, fourth, and even fifth courses of chemotherapy." Certain cancers such as lymphomas, myeloma and breast cancer were being turned into chronic diseases, he said, while others could soon follow. He added: "The chemotherapy is more effective but it's also more complex, which means it can take longer to prepare." Units had to become more efficient, streamlining their work to fit in more patients, he advised. Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, said he was "committed to improving survival rates." He said: "Earlier diagnosis is key to improving survival rates from cancer which is why our Be Clear on Cancer campaigns aim to raise awareness about the symptoms of cancer and give people the confidence to tell their doctor if they think anything is wrong. Our Cancer Strategy is backed by £750 million over four years to tackle cancer, giving patients the best chances of being diagnosed earlier and getting the best treatment and care available. I am committed to improving survival rates, saving an additional 5,000 lives per year and making sure that cancer survivors have as good a quality of life as possible.