Macmillan charity reveals concern at worst cancer waiting times on record

Performance against a cancer waiting time target is now at the lowest point since records began in 2006, a charity has said.

Macmillan Cancer Support warned the figures released on Tuesday showed more people were facing delays to “life-saving” treatment than ever before.

Ministers have set the target of having 95% of patients begin treatment within 62 days of being referred for help because cancer is suspected.

The most recent quarterly data shows 79% started treatment within the 62-day standard between October and December 2021, compared to 83.3% in the previous quarter.

There were 4,144 eligible referrals for the 62-day standard in the final three months of the year, an increase of 3.3% from the previous quarter.

However, the data from Public Health Scotland (PHS) showed performance against another cancer waiting time standard improved very slightly.

The 31-day standard states that 95% of all patients should wait no more than 31 days from decision to treat to first cancer treatment.

In the final quarter of 2021, performance against this standard stood at 97.1% compared to 97% in the previous quarter.

The 62-day standard was not met by any of the NHS Boards, while the 31-day standard was met by all boards except NHS Grampian and NHS Highland.

PHS’s report noted: “The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted the results, some boards have highlighted that staffing and capacity issues continue to impact on performance in the latest quarter.”

Macmillan Cancer Support said that when recording started in 2006 performance against the 62-day target stood at 82.5%, and the figure of 79% represented a new low.

Janice Preston, head of partnerships for the charity in Scotland, said: “Early diagnosis and timely treatment provides the best possible outcomes for people with cancer.

“These latest figures show that these two things are not in place and more people are now facing delays in receiving their life-saving cancer treatments than ever before.

“We know that delayed and cancelled treatment can cause a huge amount of worry and distress and some people will have complex emotions associated with what might have happened had they been diagnosed or treated sooner.”

Scottish Conservative health spokesman, Dr Sandesh Gulhane, said: “This target has now not been met by the SNP in almost a decade, meaning Humza Yousaf simply cannot use Covid as an excuse for missing the target.

“We’ve only seen rehashed promises and warm words from the Health Secretary, rather than the urgent action needed to get cancer patients treated as quickly as possible after referral.

“That attitude must change immediately in light of hundreds of patients again waiting longer than two months to start treatment.”