Would someone please relay this to Hugh, when he comes back?.
He may have to try being referred to one of the other hospitals, listed
below, for palliative radiotherapy (of his bones).  Or "kick up a fuss"
and get his story in this newspaper.

http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=840652007

Troubleshoot teams sent in to cut cancer waiting times
LYNDSAY MOSS HEALTH CORRESPONDENT (munged)

TEAMS of troubleshooters will be sent into two Scottish health boards as
part of an Executive pledge to meet targets for cancer treatment by the
end of this year.

Nicola Sturgeon, the health secretary, also said the SNP administration
would speed up the abolition of so-called "hidden waiting lists" - codes
given to patients which mean they are exempt from waiting-time guarantees.

However, other parties accused the SNP-led Executive of rehashing policies
put in place by the previous government.

Figures released yesterday showed 84.7 per cent of cancer patients started
treatment within two months of urgent GP referral - up from 82.5 per cent
the previous quarter.

But the figure is still far adrift of the 95 per cent target which should
have been met at the end of 2005.

Yesterday, Ms Sturgeon, on a visit to the new Beatson cancer centre in
Glasgow, said that "cancer performance support teams" would be redirected
from Glasgow and Forth Valley, where there had been good progress, to
Lothian and Lanarkshire.

In Lanarkshire, only 64.7 per cent of cancer patients started treatment in
two months. While Lothian scored 84.5 per cent, Ms Sturgeon said there
were significant challenges in treating almost 20 per cent of cancer
patients in Scotland.

Highland, with a score of 72.4 per cent, will also keep its support team
to help reduce delays.

Ms Sturgeon said: "The fact cancer targets have not been met is not good
enough. That is why I am setting out my expectation that the NHS proceeds
quickly and effectively to deliver on its cancer waiting-time target."

The teams include a mix of clinicians and NHS managers who will look at
ways boards can improve services to meet the 95 per cent target.

The figures also showed stark differences between types of cancer. The
worst was urological cancers, including prostate and bladder cancers,
where only 69.5 per cent of patients started treatment within two months.
This compared with breast cancer, with a 95.9 per cent success rate.

The statistics came as other figures showed prostate cancer had become the
most common cancer among men in Scotland for the first time. The Cancer in
Scotland report found that 19.4 per cent of cancers in men were prostate
cancer, overtaking lung cancer at 19 per cent.

Ms Sturgeon said boards should also work faster to abolish "availability
status codes" (ASCs), which are given to patients who fail to attend
appointments, choose to delay treatment for personal reasons, or who need
specialist or non-urgent care.

ASCs exempt patients from wait-time guarantees, leaving some waiting
months for treatment. The previous government had already pledged to axe
them by the end of 2007.

The latest figures showed that of the 84,744 patients waiting for an
operation on 31 March, 29,270 had an ASC.

Ms Sturgeon said: "Patients have a right to openness and transparency in
relation to all aspects of their treatment, and I am very clear the use of
hidden waiting lists must be abolished by the end of the year."

However, Andy Kerr, Labour's health spokesman and the former health
minister, dismissed the pledges on cancer and ASCs as a "rehash" of
targets agreed in consultation with clinicians in 2004. He added: "The
[ASC] targets set out by Nicola Sturgeon were devised and agreed by myself
in consultation with clinicians and announced in December 2004. To dress
it up as anything else is simply dishonest."

Mary Scanlon, the Tory health spokeswoman, also dismissed the move as "a
repetition of the previous government's plans".
SNP PLEDGES ON HEALTH KEEP STURGEON BUSY

NICOLA Sturgeon is facing huge challenges as she grapples with the health
brief, and it certainly seems to be keeping her diary full.

High on her agenda must be the closure of NHS services, particularly
accident and emergency departments in Lanarkshire and Ayr. Many people are
thought to have voted SNP on the basis of the party's pledge to reverse
decisions to shut A&Es.

Free personal care also appears to be on her mind. In opposition, the SNP
condemned councils running waiting lists for those eligible for free
personal care.

They must now find a way to fund the initiative so everyone has access,
and quickly.

Former health minister Andy Kerr promised nurses a full 2.5 per cent pay
rise from 1 April, but many failed to receive this on time. Ms Sturgeon
seems keen to check on progress on this pledge.

Thousands of junior doctors in Scotland are also up in arms over a chaotic
new recruitment system, which they say could leave many without jobs come
August.

Ms Sturgeon appears aware of the potential to cause disaster in the NHS,
pencilling it in among areas discussed at one of her meetings.

If this was not enough, a mysterious "freedom of information issue" also
crops up in her scribblings.

Last updated: 30-May-07 01:03 BST
Comments Add your comment

1. S'me / 1:13am 30 May 2007

   Just a continuation of policies already going through the difficult
part of implementation.. cherry picking and pretending its a new idea.. as
long as the end result is as promising as was looking..
   Report as unsuitable
2. mr chips / 8:40am 30 May 2007

   Kerr told the nurses a pack of lies whilst continuing to lie about
hidden waiting lists. Now wash your hands please £1.3 million to his pals
in the media.
   What a plonker.