The comments came after BBC analysis of NHS statistics revealed it had failed for months to meet NHS England's faster diagnosis standard of at least 80% of patients being told whether they have cancer within 28 days of an urgent referral.

Matt Graham, acting chief operating officer for CDDFT said: ‘We … recognise that too many patients are currently waiting longer than they should following an urgent suspected cancer referral. We know how difficult and worrying this uncertainty can be, and we are sorry that patients are experiencing delays.'

The trust has increased the number of One Stop Breast Cancer clinics per week and the number of new patients seen in each clinic to reduce delays.

Graham this was already having a positive impact with 34% of patients receiving a diagnosis or having cancer ruled out within 28 days in May. 

‘We know this remains well below where we want it to be for our patients but it shows that the actions are beginning to make a difference,' he said. ‘But there is more to do and, following recruitment, we have further increases in capacity planned in September.'

The chief operating officer said further improvement had been made in a number of key clinical outcome measures, including breast-conserving surgery, immediate reconstruction rates and re-excision rates, with performance now above national benchmarks in these areas.

‘We will continue to work hard to improve the service for patients and our local communities,' he added.

The trust promised ‘organisation-wide change' and a ‘cultural reset' after a breast surgery services review last year found persistent poor clinical practice.