Cancer victims face delay of up to 300 days for treatment
CANCER patients are waiting more than 300 days to begin treatment for the disease.
Scots referred for therapy can wait for up to ten months as hospitals struggle to meet targets.
Yesterday it emerged the Scottish Government has failed to meet cancer waiting time targets for four years, sparking an outcry from charities.
Now details of the longest waits some patients are facing have emerged, with critics condemning the figures as ‘a disgrace’.
One patient in NHS Fife waited 309 days, one in NHS Highland waited 302 days and one in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde waited 251 days from the time they were referred by a GP to starting cancer treatment, figures from the NHS Informa- tion Services Division show.
They were all supposed to be treated within the Scottish Government standard of 62 days.
All the patients had urological cancers, a speciality that has ‘particular pressures’, boards say. But there are also long waits in other areas. The longest wait for a lung cancer patient to start treatment was 104 days, while for a breast cancer patient it was 94 days.
Last night, Scottish Liberal Democrat health spokesman Alex Cole-Hamilton said: ‘It is a disgrace that cancer waiting time targets have been missed time after time. We have seen patients who have received referrals then waiting hundreds of days to start their treatment.
‘It is not fair that patients and their loved ones are being caused unnecessary anxiety and pain by excessive waits for treatment. The need to meet these targets could not be simpler – early diagnosis and treatment saves lives.
‘The SNP Government is falling short on a range of measures. Tackling cancer head-on should be a priority. Ministers must ensure that NHS boards are able to treat people in good time and with the dignity and diligence they deserve.’
NHS Fife’s chief operating officer for acute services, Professor Scott McLean, said the majority of patients in the area were treated within the 62-day target. He added: ‘We continue to explore ways of improving our performance.
‘However, it is important to note that only a small number of patients requiring non-urgent treatment have waited beyond this time.’
A spokesman for NHS Highland said: ‘We have particular pressures in meeting the targets within urology and colorectal.
‘We are working with national colleagues to improve matters and have agreed a number of actions but these will take time to implement. Our immediate actions include the establishment of additional clinics and theatre sessions to minimise delay for patients. We are re-advertising for a sixth urologist and an additional nurse specialist to help bring about a sustained increase in staffing.
‘We have also established additional capacity to provide more endoscopy sessions for colorectal referrals.’
A spokesman for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said the board ‘treats a significant number of cancer patients every year and sees a range of complex cases from across the West of Scotland’.
She added: ‘We are working hard to improve performance for our patients by increasing diagnostic and treatment capacity in key specialities including urology, colorectal, breast, and head and neck cancers.’
Health Secretary Shona Robison said: ‘We have been undertaking a national review of urological services to identify improvements that could reduce waits. This is backed by £7.5million from the Cancer Strategy over five years to support improvements in surgical treatments, including urological cancer surgery.
‘In addition, a number of NHS boards have been provided with funding to redesign urological services to ensure swift access to diagnostic services for all patients.’