23-year-old elite athlete denied new brain tumour drug shows depth of NHS's problems

Promising new cancer drug is available in the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and NHS Tayside areas but not in NHS Lothian

Perhaps the thing that surprises me most about the state of the NHS in Scotland is how little the problems it faces shock me anymore. Figures published by the Royal College of Radiologists revealed a 25 per cent shortage of radiologists and a 19 per cent shortage of oncologists, with both expected to increase in the coming years.

This newspaper reported warnings that this shortage could create a ticking time bomb for cancer patients in Scotland. A worse situation than in any other part of the UK. I should have been rocked to the core by that news, but no.

Instead I found myself sighing in anger, resignation and not a little fear. Anger that those in charge have let it become so bad, and resignation in the knowledge that whatever I try to do will be met with excuses and blame deflection by the Scottish Government.

That would, however, be no excuse for me or any other public servant to just sit back and accept that we cannot help. If anything it should, and does, push us on to greater effort.

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John Swinney and the Scottish Government need to act with greater urgency to fix the NHS's many problems (Picture: Lesley Martin/pool) | Getty Images

Drug inhibits tumour’s growth

I recently met representatives of a medical charity who told me that a breakthrough treatment for a life-limiting illness is not available to patients in Scotland. Those who qualify have to travel to a clinic in Sheffield which is now at full capacity. And it’s not just specialists, but access to drugs.

A few weeks ago, I spoke in parliament about the research and treatment of brain tumours. I had been contacted by a constituent, a 23-year-old elite athlete, training for the Commonwealth Games and Olympic trials. He was diagnosed with an inoperable, IDH-mutant, low-grade glioma – a rare form of brain tumour that disproportionately affects younger people.

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A recent breakthrough should have been good news. There is a highly promising drug. So promising, I am told, that the trials were stopped midway through and those on the placebo were given the drug, because it was proving so successful in inhibiting the growth of the tumour.

It is already available to eligible patients through a named patient programme, free of charge. But only, in Scotland, in the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and NHS Tayside areas. Not in NHS Lothian. Even though its health board took part in the original trials, my constituent has been denied it. Apparently, the ongoing costs of regular checks make it too expensive.

Angry and frustrated

I understand the pressures on public finances, on resources and on the NHS. But that must not mean a limit to our ambition in what we can do for those who are suffering.

It certainly should not mean sitting back and accepting that we cannot help when it comes to health, or that we should talk about saving money when we should talk about saving lives.

Since then I have spoken to a UK Government minister who assured me that this particular drug could soon be licensed. In England. In Scotland it has proved much more difficult to get a positive response from ministers.

I like to think it’s because they are as angry and frustrated as the rest of us. But they at least have had the ability, many of them for almost two decades, to do something. Time is running out.

Christine Jardine is Liberal Democrat MP for Edinburgh West