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CANCER IN SCOTLAND: ACTION FOR CHANGE

FOREWORD BY THE MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND COMMUNITY CARE

OVER THE LAST 10 YEARS MORE THAN 150,000 SCOTS HAVE LOST THEIR LIVES TO CANCER. MANY MORE WILL HAVE FACED THE FEAR, WORRY, AND UNCERTAINTY OF ILLNESS, DIAGNOSIS, AND TREATMENT. MANY TOO WILL HAVE BENEFITED FROM THE ADVANCES IN PREVENTION, SCREENING, AND TREATMENT THAT IN THE PAST TWO DECADES HAVE HELPED PROLONG LIFE.

Much has been done to tackle cancer in Scotland. It is one of our three top clinical priorities in the NHS. But there is more we can and must do to reduce the impact of cancer on Scotland's communities. This document, Cancer in Scotland: Action for Change, signals a renewed drive to tackle cancer and the causes of cancer in Scotland.

A detailed study, Cancer Scenarios, published earlier this year, mapped out how cancer in all its forms will affect Scots over the next 10 years. Too many Scots will still die too young. That could be a depressing story. But by taking action now we can change the way that story unfolds.

For too long there has been sustained under-investment in the right mix of trained staff and equipment to tackle cancer effectively. We have made painfully slow progress in comparison with some of our European neighbours. As a result, the improvements in care and treatment have fallen below the expectations of our people. We have started to change that with extra investment in key services over the last two years. We must now increase the pace of change.

The document sets out our aims and aspirations for improving both the prevention of cancer, and the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Aims that are both ambitious and far-reaching.

A comprehensive, modern network of cancer services to match the best in Europe. New ways of working to speed the patient through the NHS. Shorter waiting times for treatment. Better, longer lives for more Scots. Aims that are achievable, meaningful, and measurable.

Cancer in Scotland: Action for Change reflects many months of work by Dr Harry Burns and his team on the Scottish Cancer Group. They have spoken to hundreds of people - clinicians, the voluntary sector, and patients - to assess where investment and reform is needed most to deliver a step change in cancer services. On behalf of the Scottish Executive, I want to thank them for their dedication and hard work.

The work is, however, by no means completed. This document marks the first step in a long-term process of renewing and strengthening the fight against cancer. Its publication kick-starts a radical process of change and improvement. An inclusive process that will empower staff, the voluntary sector, and patients to help us turn aims and aspirations into detailed implementation plans for tackling cancer.

Misjudgements have been made in the past. Investment has been directed to the wrong place, on the wrong priority, to the wrong piece of equipment. We cannot afford to repeat the mistakes of the past. We want the right staff, in the right place, with the right skills, and backed by the right equipment. And we want front-line staff and patients themselves to help us get this right.

A strengthened Scottish Cancer Group will be drawn together to produce detailed implementation plans to make real our commitments today. They will concentrate on where additional staff and equipment are needed most. That will be their first priority. They will report to me by the Autumn of this year. We will then publish those detailed implementation plans before the end of this year.

We are also moving to strengthen the support for this group to ensure that momentum is maintained. I have asked the Chief Medical Officer for Scotland to take lead responsibility for cancer within the Health Department. I am also appointing a new Lead Cancer Clinician for Scotland, Dr Anna Gregor, currently the Lothian Lead Clinician for Cancer and a Clinical Oncologist in Edinburgh.

These three key elements - publication of Action for Change, the work of the strengthened Scottish Cancer Group over the summer, and the Cancer Implementation Programme in the Autumn - will together signal the most significant step-change in the delivery of cancer care and treatment for Scots in a generation.

The Scottish Executive will support the strengthened commitment to tackle cancer with substantial additional investment. Investment that will be directed as a priority to local services. Investment that will be delivered hand in hand with change and reform.

Cancer will touch all of us at some stage of our lives - as patient, as carer, as family, or as friend. Together we can mobilise talent and investment to fight cancer in all its forms, in all our communities, for all our futures.

SUSAN DEACON

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