MINISTERS are struggling to meet their two-month target for the treatment of all cancer patients, according to figures which show that waiting times in two key areas are on the rise.

Andy Kerr, Scotland’s Health Minister, told health boards that not enough was being done to meet the target, which kicks in at the end of the year.

The latest quarterly figures for April to June show that while waiting times have improved for colorectal, ovarian and melanoma cancers, they have worsened for the two big killers — lung and breast cancer.

The new target is that no one will wait more than two months for treatment from the point of an urgent referral after diagnosis.

But the new statistics showed that while 86.3 per cent of breast cancer cases had received treatment within two months in the previous quarter, this had fallen back to 85.9 per cent. For lung cancer, the figure slipped from 71.8 per cent to 70.4 per cent. In ovarian cancer, cases hitting the target rose from 78.9 per cent to 86 per cent; for colorectal cancer from 47.5 per cent to 56.1 per cent; and for melanomas from 75 per cent to 86.1 per cent. Lymphoma cases, published for the first time, stood at 57.6 per cent.

On average, 74.3 per cent of cancer cases were seen within the two months.

What will worry Mr Kerr is the wide discrepancy between some health boards. For example, only 20 per cent of colorectal cancer patients in Fife were treated two months after diagnosis, against a national figure of 56.1 per cent. In Grampian, only 42.2 per cent of breast cancer patients were treated in two months, compared with a national figure of 85.9 per cent. In Lanarkshire, only 25 per cent of lymphoma patients were treated in two months, compared to a national figure of 57.6 per cent.

Mr Kerr described the progress made overall by boards as limited and said that the figures showed the amount of work that boards needed to do before the end of the year.

“We set our target for the end of 2005 to be a big challenge for the NHS. We set a stretching target and have always recognised it will be difficult to meet. More and more Scots are living with and beating cancer, but that doesn’t take away the concerns and anxieties felt by anyone who thinks they might have it. We must reduce waiting times for cancer treatment. It is a top priority,” he said.

The Executive has invested £150 million in cancer services since 2001 and has been working with NHS boards to meet the target.

But Shona Robison, the Scottish National Party’s Shadow Health Minister, described the figures as appalling and claimed they showed that Mr Kerr had failed to tackle the problem of cancer patients waiting too long for treatment. “There has clearly not been enough progress made in lowering waiting times for cancer patients, especially in areas such as breast and lung cancers, where we have seen the number of patients treated within two months actually fall,” she said.

The regional disparities, she said, exposed a postcode lottery for cancer treatment and the Executive should take immediate action.

Dr Nanette Milne, the Scottish Conservatives’ health spokeswoman, said: “This is not just incompetence from the Executive, it is even worse, as the hopes of those who suffer from this dreadful illness are inevitably buoyed when they hear that they will be seen within two months.

“For more than 25 per cent of them to then find out this is not the case is absolutely shameful.”

MEETING THE TWO-MONTH TARGET

Colorectal Scotland 56.1 per cent; Greater Glasgow 45.9 per cent; Grampian 40 per cent; Fife 20 per cent

Ovarian Scotland 86 per cent; Grampian 85.7 per cent; Highland 66.7 per cent; Argyll & Clyde 33.3 per cent

Melanoma Scotland 86.1 per cent; Grampian 80 per cent; Greater Glasgow 77.3 per cent; Fife 75 per cent

Lymphoma Scotland 57.6 per cent; Greater Glasgow 41.7 per cent; Argyll & Clyde 37.5 per cent; Lanarkshire 25 per cent

Breast Scotland 85.9 per cent; Grampian 42.2 per cent; Greater Glasgow 93.2 per cent; Fife 76.9 per cent; Lothian 93.8 per cent

Lung Scotland 70.4 per cent; Fife 54.54 per cent; Tayside 62.5 per cent; Greater Glasgow 72.2 per cent; Lothian 78.3 per cent

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