http://news.scotsman.com/health/Cancer-fund-wants-better-help.3819738.jp

Cancer fund wants better help for terminally ill
A CANCER charity has called for better home care to ensure terminally ill
patients do not have to die in hospital.
Marie Curie Cancer Care research reveals that while 86 per cent of people
in Scotland are aware that dying at home is an option, only a quarter know
that it comes free.

In Scotland, everyone is entitled to free palliative care at home.
However, differences in quality mean adequate end of life care is not
always available.

Marie Curie Cancer Care is campaigning to ensure everyone has the choice
to die where they wish, and its Delivering Choice programme is aimed at
making this happen.

Dr Sheila McKay, consultant in palliative medicine for Marie Curie, said:

"The perception that patients may not receive the care they need (at home]
means people are more accepting of dying in hospital."

The full article contains 147 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News
newspaper.
Last Updated: 27 February 2008 10:38 AM
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http://deliveringchoice.mariecurie.org.uk/  I  would think they're looking
to expand their service area and/or number of ser4vice providers - I will
have to check that later.
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Also on the first website.
Number of patients waiting for hospital beds down by quarter
THE number of people waiting to be admitted into hospitals in the Lothians
for treatment has been slashed by a quarter.
By the end of December, the list had dropped to 9633, the first time it
had been below five figures in more than a decade.

NHS Lothian is also continuing to hit targets ensuring that no-one is
waiting more than 18 weeks from referral to treatment.

Health chiefs attributed the fall to improved waiting times – they
recently revealed they are hitting all diagnostic targets for hospital
care.

However, patient representatives warned against a speedy service taking
priority over the best treatment of patients.

Dr Jean Turner, chief executive of the Scottish Patients Association,
said: "On the face of it this appears to be good news, but only if
patients' outcomes are also better. Speaking to patients I get the
impression that things are being done more quickly. Being seen quickly is
good but the quality of the outcome is also important.

"There could be lots of reasons why the waiting list is shorter. It could
be that people are finding they have to come back time and again."

Figures released last month showed NHS Lothian performing well across the
board in relation to waiting times. No patients were waiting more than
nine weeks for key diagnostic tests, including upper endoscopy, lower
endoscopy, colonoscopy, cystoscopy, CT scans and MRI scans.

At the start of January, 96.6 per cent of cancer patients were seen within
62 days.

Unison, the public sector union, praised the work of hospital staff.

Mick McGahey, Unison branch secretary for the Lothian University Hospitals
Division, said: "The reality is there has been a lot of input on waiting
times from the Scottish Government.

"For staff it is about good patient care.

"If you are sitting at home waiting on an appointment, 20 weeks or 28
weeks is not good enough.

"For clinicians, the earlier they see a patient the better the outcomes."

Jackie Sansbury, director of planning at NHS Lothian, said: "I'd like to
thank our staff for their hard work in delivering swift treatment for the
people of Lothian and beyond."

At the end of September, nearly 11,000 people had been waiting longer than
18 weeks for outpatient treatment, but by December 31, this figure had
dropped to zero for those cases covered by waiting time guarantees.

The total number of people on waiting lists for a new outpatient
appointment was 204,659 at the end of the year, down by 34,000 on
September.

The number waiting longer than 18 weeks for inpatient treatment was also
zero by the end of December.

Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said: "This is a tremendous achievement
by NHS Scotland."