No downgrading of child cancer centres

Published on Tuesday 4 March 2008 21:01

CHILD cancer services across four sites in Scotland will not be downgraded "in any way", the health secretary said yesterday.

Nicola Sturgeon said she wanted to end months of uncertainty over the future of children's cancer care amid suggestions that some aspects of the service could be centralised.

Speaking at the Royal Hospital for Sick Kids in Edinburgh, Ms Sturgeon said she wanted the announcement to mark a "period of stability" for the NHS.

It means child cancer services in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee will be "retained and enhanced".

The move was welcomed by doctors, patients and politicians yesterday, following fears that children could be forced to travel long distances for treatment.

Possible options had included withdrawing some aspects of diagnosis, treatment, research and training from Aberdeen and Edinburgh and concentrating them in Glasgow. Another option would have downgraded services in Aberdeen, while Glasgow and Edinburgh would be national centres.

Yesterday, Ms Sturgeon launched a consultation on all aspects of specialist children's services. She said an extra 32 million would be invested in improving services for children and young people, making care safer, quicker and closer to home.

As well as cancer, the plan suggests improvements to child services such as cystic fibrosis care, general surgery and inherited metabolic diseases.

Ms Sturgeon said: "There has been uncertainty over children's cancer services in Scotland and I can now remove any doubts and allay the concerns of staff, patients and families. There is no recommendation to remove children's cancer services from any of the sites where it is provided and I can confirm that none of the four units will be downgraded in any way."

The plan will see Glasgow and Edinburgh classed as "level-four" centres, meaning they provide the full range of services including diagnosis and treatment.

Aberdeen and Dundee will be classed as level-three centres, meaning they can provide much of the treatment and support necessary but children, as is the case now, may need to travel to other sites for specialist care.

But Dr Hamish Wallace, who will lead the clinical network on childhood cancers, said:

"I do not envisage huge patient flows from Aberdeen to the Central Belt. Patients should spend most of their treatment as to near to where they live as possible."

Edinburgh is set to get two more child cancer consultants, bringing the total to five. Glasgow should get another consultant, bringing the total to seven.

Gwen Garen, head of the Action for Sick Children charity, said:

"We welcome this comprehensive piece of work and the ongoing opportunity it gives for wider public engagement."

Mike Rumbles, Lib Dem MSP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, said: "I am pleased the Scottish Government has decided not to move these vital services to the Central Belt. Fighting cancer is traumatic enough for any child without having to travel hundreds of miles."

Tory spokesman Jackson Carlaw welcomed the plan as a "departure from the previous administration's obsession with centralising services".

'WE'LL GO WHERE WE HAVE TO'

WHEN Mya Jeffrey fell ill with a suspected stomach infection, her parents expected she would be well again in a few days. But after three weeks, further tests found that she was suffering from a neuroblastoma – a cancerous tumour in her stomach. The two-year-old is now undergoing chemotherapy at the Sick Children's Hospital in Edinburgh.

Mya's father, Steven Jeffrey, said the family did not mind travelling from Hawick in the Borders to Edinburgh for her treatment, adding that they would "go wherever we needed to go to make sure that (Mya] had the best treatment".