Shadow Health Secretary Donald Cameron has expressed concern following the release of information showing that cancer referrals have dropped during lockdown.
Mr Cameron, a Highlands and Islands MSP, said: “Scotland’s NHS has rightly focussed on dealing with Covid for most of this year, but it is extremely worrying to see the number of cancer referrals drop so significantly."
“I am particularly concerned that no fewer than 20% of referrals in the NHS Highland area took 84 or more days for treatment which is much the worst result in Scotland. The official target is that 95% of referrals should be seen within 62 days which is the NHS standard. This is a ticking time-bomb for the health of Scottish people if it’s not tackled urgently."
“Even in the face of rising Covid cases, we cannot afford to get complacent and stop tackling cancer at the earliest opportunity. The SNP Government must concentrate on getting cancer treatment services running again as quickly as possible.”
More here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-54337646
The statistics can be found here: https://beta.isdscotland.org/find-publications-and-data/conditions-and-diseases/cancer/cancer-waiting-times/
