Cancer fear as waiting list doubles
NEARLY 45,000 Scots have been waiting more than six weeks for vital diagnostic tests – with fears 7,000 ‘missing’ cancer patients do not know they have the illness.
Anas Sarwar yesterday warned that the number of people waiting for key tests, including cancer screening, had more than doubled in the past year.
The new Scottish Labour leader called for a ‘recovery and catch-up plan’ for Scotland’s NHS.
Speaking at First Minister’s Questions, Mr Sarwar challenged Nicola Sturgeon over the impact of the pandemic on services and urged her to find the ‘missing’ 7,000 cancer patients yet to be diagnosed.
Mr Sarwar said there were 44,516 people on waiting lists for a key diagnostic test for longer than the Government’s six-week target in December 2020 compared to 17,906 the year before.
He also challenged Miss Sturgeon over her Government’s failure to meet a cancer treatment target during her entire time as First Minister.
Pointing out urgent cancer referrals have fallen by 22 per cent, he said: ‘There are thousands of people who don’t know or don’t suspect that they have cancer who need to be diagnosed, have their treatment started, and therefore improve their chances of survival.’
He added: ‘I recognise Covid19 has placed a huge strain on our NHS; it has put even more pressure on an already overstretched NHS workforce.
‘But Covid-19 didn’t create this problem, it has made a bad situation worse.
‘This Government has not made the 62-day cancer waiting time [target] since 2012 – that’s nine years. Nicola Sturgeon has failed to meet this target for the entire time she has been First Minister.’
He said the figures showed that the focus of the Scottish parliament should now be ‘a recovery and a catch-up plan for our NHS so that we never again – never again – have to choose between treating a virus or treating cancer.’
It comes after screening services were paused, GP referrals plunged and a massive backlog in demand for diagnostic tests during the pandemic.
Speaking this week, Kate Seymour, head of policy in Scotland for cancer support charity Macmillan, said: ‘Unless Scotland’s missing cancer patients are found urgently, the country is likely to face a rapid rise in people being diagnosed with very advanced cancer, some... too late to treat.
‘The Scottish Government must tackle this urgently, ensuring the cancer care system has the resources it needs to recover rapidly.’
At Holyrood yesterday, Miss Sturgeon argued that before the pandemic ‘average waits, in terms of the time between diagnosis and treatment starting, were very short’.
She said: ‘We have recognised for a long time there is more to do to meet targets.
‘Covid-19 has undoubtedly been a serious difficulty.
‘That is why – through investment, through the reforms to how treatments are being delivered and through many of the actions I’ve set out – we’re now focused on getting the NHS back to normal.’
Miss Sturgeon said anyone who has concerning symptoms should seek medical help.
‘Covid-19 did not create problem’