NHS meeting treatment targets for Scottish cancer patients

MORE Scottish patients suffering from cancer are being treated within the target times, new figures have revealed.

In October to December last year 96.9 per cent of patients began their treatment within 62 days of urgent referral when it was suspected they may have had cancer.

Official statistics show that 98.2 per cent of patients started getting medical help within a month of a decision being made to treat them.

Both totals are up slightly, by 0.2 per cent, from the previous quarter.

It means the Scottish Government’s target of treating 95 per cent of patients within these timetables continues to be met.

However, in the NHS Grampian area, only 92.2 per cent of patients started treatment within two months of being urgently referred. NHS Shetland and NHS Fife also missed the target.

The longest waiting time for treatment for someone referred because they were suspected of having cancer, 195 days, was in the NHS Grampian area.

The figures also show that 100 per cent of cervical cancer and lymphoma patients got medical help within 31 days of a decision being made to treat them.

Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said NHS staff had made a “fantastic effort” to meet the overall targets before schedule last year, and added: “I am pleased to see that these targets continue to be met.”