DEADLY DELAY IN CANCER TESTING

CANCER patients will die ‘needlessly’ in Scotland unless the NHS waiting times crisis is reined in, charity bosses warn. More than 5,000 people have been unable to get potentially life-saving tests

on time, figures released yesterday show.

Waiting times for inpatient and day case treatment are also in decline – with one in four people who need a routine operation waiting more than 12 weeks. Health Secretary Shona Robison yesterday faced fresh calls to quit over her ‘complete and utter failure to manage the health service properly’.

Claire Donaghy, head of Bowel Cancer UK and Beating Bowel Cancer in Scotland, warned of a ‘growing endoscopy crisis’, saying: ‘If ignored, services will continue to struggle to provide timely, high-quality care. Lives will be needlessly lost. Demand

for these tests has been increasing, particularly since the introduction of the bowel cancer screening programme and recent roll-out of a new, more accurate test.

‘How this growing demand will be met is a serious challenge for the health service in Scotland. It’s crucial that health boards have the capacity needed to meet demand and ensure patients are not waiting longer than the six-week waiting time standard for key tests that can diagnose bowel cancer.

‘With the cancer strategy failing to deliver, the Scottish Government must commit to develop a plan of action to tackle the growing endoscopy crisis in Scotland.’

The charity’s warning comes as official figures show that:

The number of patients waiting more than six weeks for tests that can diagnose bowel cancer rose from 2,918 in March last year to 5,178 in March of this year;

Only 75.9 per cent of hospital inpatients and day cases were seen in March within 12 weeks – the maximum wait time under SNP legislation – compared with 82.1 per cent the same time last year;

Outpatient waiting times show 75.1 per cent were seen within 12 weeks in March against 80.8 per cent in that month in 2017;

Patients waiting more than six weeks for all key diagnostic tests rose by nearly 7,000 between March of last year and this year.

Scotland’s bowel cancer screening programme – everyone is offered testing from the age of 50 – has increased demand for key endoscopy procedures used to detect the

‘Utterly unfit to run the health service’

disease. The number of patients waiting more than six weeks for key diagnostic tests – including endoscopies and scans – rose from 10,289 to 17,139 between March last year and this year.

Gregor McNie, Cancer Research UK’s head of external affairs, said: ‘Part of the reason hospitals are struggling to meet the target is because their diagnostic services are shortstaffed. The Scottish Government must address this.’

Meanwhile, the maximum time patients should wait for routine surgery is 12 weeks under the SNP’s Treatment Time Guarantee, made law in 2012.

But that pledge has been broken thousands of times, with some people waiting many months for treatment – and there is no sanction on NHS boards for breaking the law.

Official figures show 16,772 patients due to receive planned inpatient or day case treatment waited longer than 12 weeks in the first three months of this year.

Only 75.9 per cent of people were seen within the target time – against 82.1 per cent in March last year.

Labour health spokesman Anas Sarwar said: ‘The Treatment Time Guarantee has now been broken 134,000 times, with over 16,000 in the first three months of 2018.

‘The real reason for these figures is Shona Robison’s complete and utter failure to manage the health service properly. NHS staff deserve better. Shona Robison should do the decent thing and go.’

Scottish Conservative health spokesman Miles Briggs said: ‘We’ve had several years of decline across several areas and no meaningful explanation or solution.

‘Staff, patients and their families are fed up with this mess. The SNP is proving itself utterly unfit to run Scotland’s health service.’

Miss Robison refused to bow to the calls to step down. She said: ‘This period covered a challenging winter for the NHS and severe weather in early March which caused disruption that took hospitals time to recover from.

‘It is testament to the hard work and dedication of staff that the average wait for patients receiving treatment within the Treatment Time Guarantee was eight weeks, and that 1.6million patients have received their treatment within the guarantee since it was introduced.

‘We’re reviewing the Charter of Patient Rights and Responsibilities to ensure it clearly states the need for boards to give patients accurate information around waiting times.

‘We’re ensuring those who wait the longest and have the greatest clinical need are seen more quickly, with an additional £50million this year to support measures to tackle waiting times and the appointment of two advisers on diagnostics.

‘Two new MRI scanners at the Golden Jubilee [hospital in Clydebank, Dunbartonshire] are now operational and will provide 10,000 extra scans every year.

‘Indications from boards show the vast majority of cancer patients are tested within two weeks but we’ll make it clear those requiring diagnostic tests must be seen quickly.’