This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
Listen
Extra funding for cancer services
24/10/2002
An extra £1m over the next three years to improve cancer
services has been announced following the publication of
the first Cancer in Scotland annual report.
The money will support a new national redesign programme
for lung, colorectal and gynaecological cancer.
Health Minister Malcolm Chisholm also announced an
investment of £100,000 for pilot schemes to support new
ways of working including developing the role of
therapeutic and diagnostic radiographers as part of service
modernisation.
He said:
"Fifteen months after the launch of Scotland's cancer
strategy, the Cancer in Scotland annual report identifies
significant strides which have been and are continuing to
be made in the diagnosis, treatment and care of this
disease.
"It also highlights how the additional £60m which we set
aside for the strategy up until the end of 2003-04 is now
being used to buy extra equipment, recruit more staff, and
fundamentally to provide faster, better care for patients
in every part of Scotland.
"For example, in Ayrshire and Arran waiting times for
colonscopy have been halved in the past year from 16 to 8
weeks. In South Glasgow investment in radiology has
resulted in everyone referred with suspected cancer being
seen within two weeks.
"And in Lothian the extra funding has helped pay for an
additional breast cancer surgeon and support staff,
allowing more clinics and theatre sessions to be
introduced, so that 25 more new patients can be seen each
wee, and urgent referrals within two weeks.
"These improvements and the other examples of progress
highlighted in the report, are good news for patients,
their families and the NHS.
"However, we remain far from complacent and know that
there is still work to be done to further strengthen and
streamline cancer services, and improve the training and
skills mix of our staff, without whose support the progress
we are seeing today would not have been possible.
"That is why I am delighted to announce today that we
will be investing £1m over three years to support a new,
national targeted redesign programme for lung, colorectal
and gynaecological cancer.
"This fulfils the commitment made in Cancer in Scotland
and will streamline services for patients to ensure shorter
waiting times, fewer visits to hospitals and clinics for
essential tests and treatment, and overall less anxiety for
patients and their families.
"We will also be investing £100,000 in pilot initiatives
in therapeutic and diagnostic radiography services, to be
taken forward in conjunction with radiography staff and the
Regional Cancer Advisory Groups.
"These will support the development of a new grade of
Radiotherapy Assistant who will undergo formal accredited
training to allow them to undertake a range of defined
clinical procedures and free up experienced staff to
undertake more complex procedures.
"It will also support continuing improvements in patient
care by ensuring frontline health professionals have the
most up to the minute skills. And can use their expertise
to make the best possible use of state of the art imaging
and cancer treatment equipment - either in place or being
commissioned across the country - for the benefit of our
patients.
"Meanwhile, looking to the months ahead, patients and
clinicians, who have been put at the heart of cancer
service planning and delivery through Scotland-wide Managed
Clinical Networks, can look forward to the next round of
investment from the Cancer Strategy coming forward early in
the new year.
"Project plans for the remaining investment still to be
finalised are expected to be announced early next year.
"Next year, will also see NHS continuing to harness new
technology and techniques to prevent and detect cancer at
the earliest possible stage. For example liquid based
cytology will be introduced to the national cervical
screening programme by 2004, ensuring that around 24,000
women each year will not have to attend clinics for repeat
smear tests.
"As I have said, our work to improve cancer services is
far from over. As long as cancer remains such a
considerable cause of ill-health and death among the
Scottish population, it will continue to be a top priority
area for investment and reform both within the Scottish
Executive and the NHS.
"And at the heart of those reforms will remain our
on-going determination to create a culture of improvement
in our cancer services for the maximum benefit of all Scots
whose lives are blighted by this disease."
Scotland's cancer strategy, Cancer in Scotland: Action
for change, was launched in July 2001 and is backed by an
investment of £60m up until 2003-04, over and above
existing national and local investment plans. Investment
plans for 2001-02 and 2002-03 have seen £25m ploughed into
wide ranging initiatives to build capacity, improve
services and improve patients' care.
"The first Annual Report of Cancer in Scotland sets out
action to date, continuing improvements that are expected
in the months and years to come, as well as highlighting
the challenges which remain.
The report was launched today at the Cancer Open Forum
in Dunblane, the second annual event of its kind and which
is aimed at providing feedback and progress information to
everyone with an interest in the strategy.
More than 400 delegates from across Scotland registered
to attend, including health professionals working in
primary, secondary and tertiary care, representatives from
the voluntary sector, health councils and patients.
The £1m in new money announced today is over and above
the £60m, and is part of the designed healthcare initiative
which itself is part of the Centre for Change and
Innovation currently being set up in the Executive.
The £100,000 includes, £50,000 from the existing Cancer
in Scotland budget and £50,000 from the Health Department's
Workforce Development initiative.