Health board again fails to meet cancer waiting times
Political Correspondent GLASGOW hospitals have again failed to meet the waiting time target for treatment for cancer patients.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde managed to meet the 62-day standard from urgent referral to first cancer treatment for 84 per cent of patients between April and June.
The target set by the Scottish Government is 95 per cent, but the health board has not met that in at least the last three years according to official statistics.
The latest figures are down on the same time last year when it met the standard for 88 per cent of patients.
It means of the 924 eligible patients referred for cancer treatment in the three months 148 did not get treatment with the 62 days.
Treatment times varied for different cancers.
The best performance was for ovarian cancer where 100 per cent of the 17 patients started treatment.
The worst was for urologi- cal cancers where just 61 per cent of the 132 patients got treatment within two months. Cancer campaigners and politicians said they were concerned by the figures which also showed hundreds of patients across Scotland waiting longer than 62 days, with just 87 per cent meeting the standard.
Gregor McNie, Cancer Research UK’s senior public affairs manager in Scotland, said: “It’s clear some patients in Scotland are still waiting far too long for diagnosis and treatment which is a worrying and familiar picture.”
Anas Sarwar, Labour’s health spokesman said the figures were a “disgrace”.
He said: “It is an absolute disgrace that more than 13 per cent of cancer patients are missing the 62-day cancer referral to treatment target under the SNP.
“Cancer remains Scotland’s biggest killer and these figures are simply not good enough.”
Health Secretary Shona Robison said a new group would “drive forward” improvements in waiting times for diagnosis and treatment for cancer patients in Scotland. She said: “I am establishing a short-life working group to drive forward improvements, starting with the diagnostic phase and making recommendation on the expansion of the innovative qFit programme.”
A spokeswoman for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, said: “NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde treats a significant number of cancer patients every year and sees a range of complex cases from across the West of Scotland.
“We are working hard to improve performance for all our patients affected by cancer in the diagnostic and treatment stages of their cancer. We recognise how important this is for our patients and are determined to improve our cancer waiting times performance for them.”