Almost what the doctor ordered as waiting times improve

Dec 2 2008 by Kenneth Speirs, Paisley Daily Express

PAISLEY’S health board has slightly bettered the average national waiting time for urgent cancer treatment...but they are still doing worse than they were in the first three months of the year.

In Scotland from April to June this year, 93.5 per cent of reported urgently referred patients began treatment within the 62-day target time of their referral.

But in the NHS Argyll & Clyde Greater Glasgow area, which includes Paisley, the figure was 96.6 per cent – a poorer performance than those for January to March, which was 98 per cent.

From April to June, 179 people were diagnosed with cancer in the area, and 173 began treatment within the target time.

All of those with breast cancer, head and neck cancer, melanoma cancer, and urology cancer were treated within 62 days.

Of those with colorectal cancer, 93.5 per cent were treated with the target time, while 94.3 per cent of those with lung cancer started treatment within 62 days. Almost 86 per cent of lymphoma cancer patients were treat within target, and the figure for sufferers of upper gastrointestinal cancer was 95.2 percent.

Health secretary Nicola Sturgeon said the performance of Scotland’s NHS Boards over the last year in delivering the 62-day cancer patient referral to treatment target shows improvement, but there is still more to do.

Miss Sturgeon said: “Each and every target we have represents the needs of patients.

“Figures for the same quarter last year revealed just how much boards needed to do to meet the target originally set in 2000 to quicken the timescale for patients to get their treatment.

“The figures show vast improvement on that position, helping us to see that the majority of patients diagnosed with cancer who were urgently referred are getting their treatment within two months.

“We’re almost there but improvements still need to be made to ensure the target is being met in full in every board across Scotland. Boards can significantly improve their performance.

“The 62-day current target will be extended to include patients who are referred through one of the national screening programmes and we will speed up the patient journey so that by 2011, all patients diagnosed with cancer, whatever the route of referral, will receive treatment within 31 days from the date of decision to treat.

“I know that staff across the NHS are working hard to deliver better, faster care and will continue these efforts for all the patients in their care.”

A spokesman for the board said: “NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has consistently maintained our overall performance on waiting times and we continue to make improvements in the quality of care to patients.”

He added: “There are areas that need further improvement but we are working with colleagues across all our hospitals to shorten waiting times and meet targets.”