GPs fail to refer one in three patients with skin cancer for urgent tests and some have to wait six weeks for appointments
More than 10,000 people aged 55 and over were diagnosed with the disease in 2014 and charities have reported alarming rise
FAMILY doctors fail to refer nearly one in three patients with malignant melanoma for urgent tests, figures reveal.
NHS watchdog Nice says GPs should refer suspected skin cancer cases to a specialist within two weeks.
But 29 per cent were diagnosed following a normal GP referral, which can take up to six weeks.
The National Cancer Intelligence Network data showed another seven per cent of cases were diagnosed in hospital.
Alarming figures show rise in skin cancer among the 'sun, sea and sangria' generation of older people.
More than 10,000 people aged 55 and over were diagnosed with the disease in 2014, up from 3,100 cases twenty years ago.
Cancer Research UK blamed cheap package holidays for the rise in cases of skin cancer.
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Cases of melanoma have doubled in the last twenty years for people aged 55 and over.
The disease kills around 2,000 Brits a year.