Swift action needed to prevent 'cancer catastrophe' as NHS fails to meet target

Swift action is needed from the Scottish Government to prevent a “cancer catastrophe”, campaigners have claimed, as new figures showed the NHS has again failed to meet a key waiting times standard.

Ministers have set the target of having 95% of patients begin treatment within 62 days of being referred for help because cancer is suspected.

But the latest data showed another decline in performance against this in the period July to September, with only 83.1% beginning treatment in this timeframe – down from 84.1% in the previous quarter and below the 87.3% that was achieved in July to September last year.

None of Scotland’s health boards met the goal of starting to treat patients within two months of referral – and nor was this target achieved for any cancer types.

The latest figures from Public Health Scotland showed that in NHS Orkney, only two out of five (40%) of patients referred with an urgent suspicion of cancer began treatment within two months, the lowest rate in Scotland.

And less than three quarters (71.8%) of those suspected of having bowel cancer began treatment within two days, compared to 76 per cent of those with cervical cancer, 91.5% of those with lung cancer and 92.7% of those with breast cancer.

It comes as the number of people being referred to help increased by almost a third from the same time last year.

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Source: The Scotsman, 14 December 2021