Cancer screening on hold to free up staff

Difficult decision taken on ‘balance of risks’ will allow laboratory workers to help carry out more coronavirus testing

All NHS Scotland cancer screening programmes are being paused in the country in order to free up staff to fight Covid-19.

Breast, cervical, bowel, abdominal aortic aneurysm and diabetic retinopathy screenings have been put on hold due to the pandemic.

Pregnancy and newborn screenings will continue.

Scotland’s chief medical officer Dr Catherine Calderwood said the decision came down to a “balance of risks” and would allow laboratory workers to help with coronavirus testing.

People who think they have cancer symptoms are being asked to contact their GPS or call the NHS on 111.

It comes as it was revealed that there have been 1,563 confirmed Covid-19 cases in Scotland and another six deaths, bringing the death toll to 47. There are 108 people in intensive care suffering from coronavirus in the country.

However, Dr Calderwood said new estimates suggest more than 100,000 people have now contracted the virus in the country.

Dr Calderwood added: “This was another very difficult decision that we have had to take. It was taken with very careful thought and deliberation but it is a balance of risks that we believe is worth taking.

“Our main concern is that people would miss their screening appointments, perhaps because they were not able to attend the appointment, they might have been self-isolating, or because they were choosing not to attend in order not to come in contact with people.

“In pausing the appointments we will be able to recontact people who were due to be screened during this threemonth period and then invite them to attend so that they will not have missed an important part of their healthcare.”

She said NHS staff absences would also have led to a “frail, slightly reduced” screening service.

Dr Calderwood added: “We will be able to repurpose the staff who are currently running these screening programmes.

“In particular the staff in our laboratories who can be repurposed to working in our labs with coronavirus, and helping that vital increase in the capacity for testing coronavirus that we need. People should really watch out for the symptoms that we would be screening for. Please attend your GP or phone the NHS 111 line.

Ms Sturgeon added: “We have already been required to take extremely difficult decisions.

“(We have) suspended elective surgeries to create more capacity within our hospitals for Covid-19 patients.

“We are taking the very difficult decision to suspend screening programmes.

“As you can imagine this is not a decision we have taken lightly. However, it is important in order to maximise the ability for the NHS to cope over the coming weeks.”

She hopes the measure will be removed after 12 weeks or earlier.

Last night, the Royal College of Practitioners, Royal College of Nursing and Scottish Care jointly wrote to Health Secretary Jeane Freeman over their concerns about a lack of personal protective equipment for community health and social care workers.

Theresa Fyffe, RCN Scotland director, said: “It is completely unacceptable that weeks into this crisis, there are colleagues who still have not been provided with the right personal protective requipment.”

Dr Catherine Calderwood.