BRADFORD City Clinical Commissioning Group is failing its cancer patients, according to figures released today.

Data released from NHS England states that of 209 CCGs across England, Bradford was one of 24 which required the "greatest need of improvement".

The figures show it is performing poorly when it comes to diagnosing patients quickly and ensuring they get prompt treatment and boosting one-year survival rates.

Bradford, however, is not alone, with almost nine out of 10 NHS groups failing patients. In some areas just one in three patients get an early diagnosis while almost half of patients in one area do not get their first treatment for cancer in a timely manner.

In other areas, thousands of cancer patients are dying too early due to poor care on the NHS.

An NHS England spokesman said: "NHS cancer patients' care is now the best it's ever been, but we've set stretching goals to save thousands more lives by 2020. Measured against this ambition, it's not surprising that most local services need to make further improvements, but we're going to track progress transparently so everyone can see how we are improving care and outcomes for patients."

Dr Fran Woodard, executive director of policy and impact at Macmillan Cancer Support, said: "The fact that so many CCGs in England have been identified as providing inadequate care to cancer patients, or requiring improvements in this area, is very concerning.

"It highlights just how much the NHS is struggling to meet the challenge of delivering cancer services which meet all the critical needs of people with cancer."

CCGs control millions of pounds of NHS money and their role is to commission health services for the good of local populations.

The date shows that only 22 were "performing well" with seven classed as "top performing".

A further 156 were ranked as "need improvement" and 24, including Bradford, ranked as in greatest need of improvement.