Cancer treatment waiting times fall to their worst performance on record

Humza Yousaf has been urged to make publishing a new cancer strategy his top priority as First Minister after it was revealed treatment waiting times had fallen to their worst level on record in a performance labelled “shameful”.

Health Protection Scotland data shows 71.7 per cent of eligible patients started treatment within the 62-day target time in the three months to December 31. This is down from 75.1 per cent in the previous quarter and a 12 percentage point fall since the last full quarter pre-pandemic of October-December 2019 when 83.7 per cent were seen within the target time.

The new figures sparked concern among opposition politicians and cancer charities, with the waiting times branded “beyond disgraceful” and calls made for the Scottish Government to take action.

The 62-day standard states 95 per cent of eligible patients should wait no longer than 62 days from urgent suspicion of cancer referral to first cancer treatment. No health board met the 95 per cent standard in the October-December quarter and it has not been met nationally since the end of 2012.

Cancer treatment waiting times have fallen to their worst showing on record, new figures indicate.

The number of patients referred has continued to increase, at 4,262 in October-December last year, up 2.3 per cent on the previous quarter and 14.5 per cent on the quarter ending December 31, 2019.

Scottish Conservative health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane said: “These horrendous figures lay bare the terrifying legacy of Humza Yousaf’s stewardship of our NHS. In every quarter during his time as health secretary, cancer waiting times continued to worsen.

“It is beyond disgraceful that almost a third of patients are not starting treatment within two months. That will only be having a devastating impact on their chances of survival.”

He called for newly-appointed health secretary Michael Matheson to announce a “real recovery plan for our NHS – and [ensure] every cancer patient begins treatment as soon as possible”.

It comes as fresh accident-and-emergency (A&E) figures published on Tuesday showed little improvement. More than a third of recent attendances at A&E were not seen within the four-hour target time. Of the 25,658 attendances, 1,658 people waited longer than 12 hours, while 3,750 waited more than eight hours.

Scottish Labour health spokesperson Jackie Baillie said on cancer treatment waiting times: “These are the worst cancer statistics on record, with thousands of Scots being failed by the SNP.

“Not a single health board is meeting the government’s 62-day own cancer target – that is shameful. After ten years and four failed SNP cancer plans, it is clear that this is a Government out of ideas and endangering lives.”

Liberal Democrat Scottish affairs spokesperson Christine Jardine said: “This SNP/Green Government have let down everyone in Scotland who has ever had to hear a cancer diagnosis or lost someone they love. Humza Yousaf owes us all an apology and has serious questions to answer about how he has allowed this to happen.”

Cancer charities also called for action, with Cancer Research UK’s public affairs manager in Scotland, Dr Sorcha Hume, saying it was “unacceptable that more than one in four people are waiting too long to be diagnosed and start cancer treatment”.

She said: “The top priority for the First Minister has to be publishing the new cancer strategy and ensuring that it is implemented quickly.”

Macmillan Cancer Support warned the “crisis is far from over”. The charity’s Scotland head, Janice Preston, said: “Today’s figures show that things are getting worse and will be felt for years to come.

“It’s clear to see that every health board in Scotland is feeling the impact, from a struggling workforce, due to exhaustion and staff reaching retirement age, the consequence is people with cancer across the country are facing long waiting times.

“There’s no overall quick solution, but we need and deserve a system in Scotland that treats patients quicker and tackles the current delays.”

Meanwhile, the Public Health Scotland figures show performance on a second cancer treatment target also fell. The 31-day standard stipulates 95 per cent of all patients should wait no more than 31 days from decision to treat to first cancer treatment.

In the last quarter of 2022, 94.1 per cent of patients started treatment within the 31 days, a slight drop on 94.4 per cent in the previous quarter.

The number of patients referred within the 31-day standard increased 4.7 per cent between quarter three and quarter four of 2022 to 6,757.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, NHS Lothian, NHS Fife, NHS Grampian, NHS Highland and NHS Lanarkshire all failed to meet this target, with the rest of Scotland’s health boards hitting it.

Mr Matheson said: “Today’s figures show that our NHS, despite the impact of the pandemic, is treating more cancer patients on 31 and 62 day pathways than ever before. More than 900 additional patients were treated in this quarter alone, compared to the same time pre-pandemic. Despite this increase in numbers, the median wait from decision to treat to first treatment is five days.

“Cancer remains a national priority for the NHS and Scottish Government which is why we will publish a new ten-year strategy in spring 2023.

“We are committed to finding cancer earlier and faster which is why we have established a network of urology diagnostic hubs, are investing in optimal cancer diagnostic pathways and activating additional rapid cancer diagnostic services across Scotland.”