Scots cancer survival ‘put at risk’ by staffing crisis

●Report by MSPS finds 18% of patients are not seen within the six-week target

Scotland’s cancer patients could be losing years of their lives because staff shortages mean the disease is not being diagnosed early enough, a damning report released today reveals.

The scottish parliament’ s cross party Group on Cancer report concludes that the Scottish Government’s plans to tackle the killer disease have failed to take a long-term approach and is under-funded, thwarting efforts to boost patients’ survival rates.

In June 2019, more than 18 per cent of patients were waiting for longer than the Scottish Government target of six weeks for a key diagnostic test – more than double the proportion compared with just three years ago.

Every year around 32,200 people in Scotland are diagnosed with the disease. More than 16,000 people north of the Border died from cancer last year.

By 2035, it has been estimated this will rise by around a quarter with more than 40,000 people expected to be diagnosed each year.

This is set to become more acute due to a growing and aging population.

Last month a report by ISD Scotland showed cancer continues to kill more people in Scotland than any other disease.

Today’s report – Priorities for the Future of Cancer Care in Scotland – will be presented at the Scottish Cancer Conference in Glasgow by Anas Sarwar, Scottish Labour MSP, the Cross Party Group (CPG) co-convener.

The report’s findings will put more pressure on health secretary Jeane Freeman, who has been urged to resign after Mr Sarwar disclosed in the Scottish Parliament claims from a whistleblower that the death of a ten-year-old girl, who was in remission but who died in a ward at the flagship Queen Elizabeth University

Hospital in Glasgow in 2017, was linked to contaminated water.

Yesterday it emerged that a police investigation is under way following the death of a three-year-old boy in the same month at the same hospital where the girl, later named as Milly Main, was being treated.

It was further revealed that a number of senior staff at the hospital have resigned from posts in infection control, including the lead infection control doctor, due to their concerns over safety in Ward 6A, which houses children with cancer, pressure and concerns about management.

Mr Sarwar said: “This report must serve as an urgent wakeup call for the Scottish Govern ent. Cancer survival is being put at risk because of a chronic staffing shortage in our NHS. This has devastating consequences for patients with cancer and their families and friends.

“With a growing and ageing population, the time for action is now. We need a long-term workforce plan backed up by sufficient investment and resources to save lives in Scotland.”

The CPG on Cancer involves 76 organisations and individuals from across cancer research, treatment, care and prevention, as well as a number of cancer patient representatives.

Miles Briggs, MSP, Scottish Conservative shadow health secretary and co-convenor of the CPG, said: “The in-depth inquiry conducted by the Scottish Parliament’s Cross Party Group on Cancer has highlighted in stark terms the major challenges facing cancer services and the failure of Scottish Government minsters to provide for the increasing and changing workforce needs, especially in the delivery diagnostic services.

“The key message from the inquiry is there simply isn’t enough NHS staff to do the job and, after more than 12 years in control of health, Scottish ministers have not met this priority and outcome in the Cancer Strategy.

“Scottish ministers have been warned repeatedly about the impact of this, not just on cancer patients but also on overstretched NHS staff too.

“A damning report like this must spur Scottish ministers into action. We now need to see urgent action to improve cancer services across Scotland.”

Michelle Mitchell, Cancer Research UK’S chief executive, who is addressing the conference, said: “The findings of this inquiry are deeply concerning.

“Diagnosing cancer early can make all the difference, but there are major shortages in the staff trained to carry out the tests that diagnose cancer.

“Cancer services in Scotland are already struggling. Without urgent action, this will only worsen as demand increases.

“The Scottish Government must act now and publish a long-term cancer workforce plan – to enable the NHS to do its best by patients today and prepare for rising demand in the future.”

Ms Freeman said: “Cancer is an absolute priority for the Scottish Government and our £100 million cancer strategy is focused on improving survival ratesandensuringwehavethe right workforce.

“We are driving a continued downward trend in cancer mortality rates, with recent figures showing age-adjusted mortality rates for all cancers combined decreased by 10 per cent between 2009 and 2018.

“Through a range of actions, more people are surviving cancer than ever before.”

Last week, the tragic story emerged of Milly Main, the ten-year-old girl who died after contracting an infection possibly linked to contaminated water at Glasgow’s children hospital.

Milly, who was in remission from leukaemia, passed away in 2017. Her family, unbelievably, knew nothing of an unpublicised clinician-led review which potentially linked 26 cases, including Milly’s, to the water supply until they read about it in the press.

Her mother, Kimberley Darroch, feels she has been ‘let down and lied to’ and is quite rightly now demanding answers.

These answers must be forthcoming – and quickly – from Health Secretary Jeane Freeman who, along with the local health authority, now faces a major task to rebuild trust in the service.

That trust is further eroded by today’s report from the Scottish Parliament’s Cross-party Group on Cancer which finds that 18 per cent of cancer patients in June were not seen within the six-week target, raising fears that cases are not being caught in time.

The findings of the report have been described as “deeply concerning” by Cancer Research UK, and group convener Anas Sarwar says it must act as an “urgent wake-up call” for the

Scottish Government.

Of course, during an election campaign stories such as these will be seized upon by politicians, especially those looking to move the agenda away from Brexit or the prospect of another Scottish independence referendum. But this is an issue too important to become a political football.

Ms Freeman, who let us not forget is still dealing with the scandal of Edinburgh’s new unopened children’s hospital, will inevitably face renewed calls to stand down, but that would do nothing to solve the underlying crisis.

Scotland – like the UK as a whole – has serious issues in its health service. These are long-term, chronic problems which will not simply disappear as the result of an eye-catching election campaign pledge or a high-profile ministerial resignation.

Scotland’s population is growing and the average age will continue to go up. Pressure will simply continue to build on health and care services.

We must act now to firstly address the issues and then ensure we have an NHS fit for the future. The scale of that challenge will remain the same, no matter who is in power at Holyrood and Westminster. Trust needs to be restored for patients, families and the hardworking and over-stretched NHS staff across the country.