Cancer treatment in north west Kent needs improvement but is better than most other areas in Kent, figures have revealed.

Latest NHS statistics show that of the 209 Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) across the country, only 29 were performing well. But, not one of those groups is in Kent.

Every CCG is the county was found to ‘Need Improvement’ while Medway and Thanet fall under the ‘Greatest Need for Improvement’ category.

The Ofsted-like grading measures four things: early diagnosis, one year survival, how many patients are seen within 62 days of a GP referral, and the overall patient experience.

The data is relative, the CCGs have been compared to the national average rather than to any absolute standard.

While it is still in need of improvement, Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley (DGS) CCG tops the Kent table.

It performed better than the national average in the percentage of people receiving an early diagnosis, and those surviving a year or more. It was also on par with the standard level for overall positive patient experience.

But it fell short on the 85% goal for the number of patients seen within 62 days.

An NHS England spokeswoman 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.

“We are also investing an extra £15m in improving early diagnosis and setting up Cancer Alliances to bring together leadership across local areas to drive improvements.”

Jeremy Hunt, health secretary, said the figures “don’t make comfortable reading”.

“We know with cancer the key is to catch it early. So every day, compared to 2010, we are doing 16,000 more diagnostic tests. As a result we’re starting cancer treatment for 130 more people every day and now have our highest ever cancer survival rates. Good progress, but still not good enough.”