Cancer care crisis

Flagship centre at breaking point, staff emails show Experts point to SNP’s focus on independence Medics discuss changing doses to cope with demand

‘ Experts wondered if SNP preoccupation with independence caused it to neglect its responsibilities for country’s health

SCOTLAND’S flagship cancer centre is at ‘crisis point’ amid fears the SNP’s preoccupation with independence has seen health being neglected.

Specialists at the Glasgow-based Beatson clinic have considered reducing treatments to cope with the sheer volume of work they are now having to carry out.

Shocking revelations have emerged in emails from Beatson staff leaked to a medical journal.

Last night critics said that the ‘appalling’ disclosures – the latest to hit NHS Greater and Glasgow and Clyde – lay bare the ‘existential crisis’ facing the NHS.

Scotland’s Systemic Anti-Cancer Therapy (SACT) service is dealing with a ‘relentless rise’ in the number of treatments it is expected to deliver, because of continuing scientific breakthroughs.

However, the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre, in Glasgow, which serves an area covering 2.8million, has not expanded to match demand, the Lancet Oncology has revealed.

The situation has been exacerbated by the pandemic, staff shortages and ‘ageing and poorly functioning equipment’.

The clinical director of the Beatson is understood to have described the situation as ‘approaching a crisis point’.

And in a damning indictment of the Scottish Government, the journal says that ‘several experts’ it contacted wondered whether the SNP’s ‘preoccupation with independence’ had caused it to ‘neglect its responsibilities for the country’s health’.

A Beatson staff member also talked of a perception that health boards are reluctant to pass on bad news about health to the SNP.

David Cameron, professor of oncology at the University of Edinburgh and chair of Scotland’s National SACT Programme Board, said: ‘We have seen this coming, but we have not acted quickly enough. The system is under significant strain.

‘Demand is increasing and there are staff shortages at all levels, from consultants to pharmacy technicians. We need to have a very serious discussion about how we can continue to expand what we deliver.’

National guidelines on how cancer patients should be dealt with in the Covid pandemic set out how those with the highest chances of survival should be treated as a priority.

The leaked emails reveal this has been discussed as way of dealing with the problems at the Beatson but that decisions should be made ‘at a national level’. One decision was to stop offering ‘cold caps’ to patients who were undergoing chemotherapy in a bid to reduce hair loss.

The staff emails also outline suggestions for reducing demand, including changing dosing regimens for some chemotherapy drugs, longer dosing intervals for both maintenance and palliative regimens, and stopping ‘maintenance’ regimens early.

Scottish Conservative health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane said: ‘This is an utterly appalling situation. My thoughts are with those cancer patients who are suffering as a result of the crisis engulfing our NHS on Humza Yousaf’s watch.’

Scottish Labour health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said: ‘These are truly terrifying comments, which lay bare the existential crisis facing our NHS. Our cancer services, like other areas of our NHS, are in critical condition, but the SNP still don’t seem to grasp the urgency. Lives will be lost as a result of this disastrous failure to protect these services.’

The Scottish Government last night said it was ‘committed to the equitable and safe delivery of care across Scotland’.

A spokesman added: ‘We will be investing £10million in our SACT and Acute Oncology workforce in order to keep up with the growing demand on services.’

A NHSGGC spokesman said: ‘The Beatson looks after patients from across Scotland, treating some of the sickest people in the country, and our staff work extremely hard to ensure they receive the best care in extremely difficult circumstances. No treatment schedule would be changed without evidence to support it, so there are no plans to increase schedule length, stop treatments early or interrupt schedules.’

‘Utterly appalling situation’