CANCER WAIT TIME ‘IS COSTING LIVES’
Sarwar alert as 3300 endangered by late diagnosis
NICOLA Sturgeon has been warned that her government’s failure to tackle the NHS waiting times crisis was “costing lives”.
Anas Sarwar told the First Minister yesterday that more than 3300 Scots had been left waiting longer than the 62-day standard to begin cancer treatment in the past year.
The Scottish Labour leader raised the case of a mum from Edinburgh who waited seven months for a diagnosis, only to be told she had an aggressive form of endometrial cancer.
Anne Sinclair, 64, then waited a further five months for her treatment to start before she died in the summer.
Sarwar told MSPs: “We know that the sooner you are diagnosed, and the sooner you start treatment, the more likely you are to survive.
“Anne tragically died this summer. She said that she did not want to go quietly.
“Her last words to her son, Ricky, were, ‘Keep fighting, tell my story. We need to stop this happening to anyone else. I love you’.
“She wanted her case to be used as an example so that others would not have the experience she did.
“But Anne’s case isn’t an isolated one.”
The mum’s wait for treatment was first raised in Parliament back in February by local MSP Foysol Choudhury.
Speaking yesterday, Sarwar added: “In the past year, 3393 people waited more than the 62-day standard for cancer treatment.
“A standard not met in 10 years and getting worse. That means lives lost.”
The First Minister offered her “sincere condolences” to Anne’s family and friends.
She added: “These issues are a priority.
“I don’t shy away from the serious challenges and pressures on our National Health Service.”
Choudhury MSP said: “Anne’s case starkly demonstrates the real people behind the numbers we hear every week in the Scottish Parliament.
“Unfortunately, Anne was let down and her sons deserve answers and an apology for the delays in their mother’s diagnosis.”