This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
Listen
Cancer treatment waiting times
07/03/2006
Faster progress on reducing cancer waiting times was demanded today after it became clear Health Boards will find it difficult to meet the end-of-year target.
Health Minister Andy Kerr said that while the latest figures demonstrated good progress in many areas, the extra investment made available to cut waiting times was taking too long to translate into real benefits for patients.
He acknowledged the end-of-year target would be tough to meet - The target is that from December 2005 the maximum wait from urgent referral to treatment for all cancers will be two months.
Figures for July to September 2005 show waiting times improving for colorectal, ovarian, lung and lymphoma cancers but marginally worse for breast cancer. Quarterly figures for October to December 2005 will be published in approximately three months time.
In line with The Executive's promise to provide information on more types of cancer, data on urology, upper GI and head and neck cancers is published for the first time.
Mr Kerr said:
"Today's figures show we are heading in the right direction with cancer types like colorectal, ovarian, lung and lymphoma - and that is good news for patients suffering from these dreadful diseases.
"We have made significant funds available to Boards to help them cut cancer waiting times. Nevertheless, this is an extremely challenging target and progress in some areas is not as good as I would have hoped.
"An increasing number of us are living with and beating cancer. But that doesn't take make it any easier for people who're diagnosed with the disease, or their families. We must reduce waiting times.
"Last summer we agreed delivery plans with milestones, for each Board. I am continuing to closely monitor their performance against the plans. While there have been some improvements, Boards now need to drive forward their efforts to deliver faster care for patients with cancer."
The target is that from December 2005 the maximum wait from urgent referral to treatment for all cancers will be two months. Quarterly figures for October to December 2005 will be published in approximately three months time.
Performance against the target for the quarter July to September 2005 is (with previous quarter in brackets):
- Breast cancer 81 per cent (86 per cent)
- Lung cancer 77 per cent (70 per cent)
- Ovarian cancer 92 per cent (86 per cent)
- Colorectal cancer 67 per cent (56 per cent)
- Melanoma 86 per cent (86 per cent)
- Lymphoma 64 per cent (58 per cent)
- Urology 64 per cent (new statistics)
- Upper GI 76 per cent (new statistics)
- Head & Neck 70 per cent (new statistics)
- All Scotland 75 per cent (not comparable due to new stats)
Since 2001 the Executive has invested £150 million in cancer services. Work is being taken forward on a number of fronts to drive down waiting times:
- Increased capacity. There are now 300 additional staff including doctors, nurses and other health professionals delivering cancer treatment and care across Scotland
- We have replaced old scanning and treatment equipment and put in extra new state of the art imaging, radiotherapy and other equipment in hospitals, with innovative use to treat patients in rural communities
- By the end of 2007 patients will wait no more than nine weeks for any MRI or CT scans and other key diagnostic tests. This will also assist in driving down waiting times for cancer treatment
- One of the most significant actions that is making a huge difference in many areas is putting in place "trackers" - staff who are responsible for tracking all urgent referrals through the system from referral, through the range of diagnostic services such as laboratory tests and imaging (for example x-rays, CT/MRI scans, endoscopy, ultrasound) up to treatment
- regular publication of updated minimum, median and maximum waiting times, as well as figures for the 90th and 95th percentiles, all broken down by NHS Board