NHS Tayside has one of the worst compliance rates with urgent cancer treatment wait guidelines, a new report scrutinising the performance of Scotland’s health service has found.
Patients in Tayside referred for urgent treatment due to a suspicion of cancer are meant to begin treatment within 62 days.
But the health board meets this target in just 60% of cases, well below the national standard of 95%, according to a new report from Audit Scotland.
The highly critical audit of the state of the NHS across Scotland reveals the system-wide pressures which have left NHS Tayside struggling to meet goals in key areas.
The country’s chief auditor has told the the government it must set out a clear plan on reforming the NHS which sets out the tough decisions required.
The report also demonstrates that NHS Tayside struggled to meet deliver on the national treatment time guarantee for day case and inpatient surgery.
It saw just 59% of patients within the 12 week limit, despite it being a patient’s right in law.
The health board has also struggled to achieve its 18-week referral-to-treatment target for psychological therapies, with only 72% of cases seen in this time frame.
The report does acknowledge “significant” improvements in children and young people’s mental health services, with 98% of those referred beginning treatment within 18 weeks — exceeding the national standard of 90%.
NHS Tayside’s innovative approach to managing accident and emergency demand and patient flow throughout the hospital means it outperforms other health boards in these areas.
A spokeswoman for the health board said it recognises the challenges across Scotland: “We continue to address these issues locally and have improvement plans in place in areas where we face challenges.
“Engagement with Scottish Government continues on the scale of reform required at national and local level to deliver a balance between the resources available, improving operational performance and an increased demand for services that we continue to experience.”
NHS still seeing fewer patients than pre-pandemic
Despite increasing staffing and funding, Audit Scotland says the health service nationwide is still seeing fewer patients that it did before the Covid-19 pandemic.
Across the country commitments to slash waiting times have not been met and government mandated targets were rarely achieved.
New cash invested into the system has been swallowed up by a burgeoning salary bill and inflation.
While the Scottish Government has set out a “vision” for health and social care, Audit Scotland says it is not clear how these operational pressures on the NHS will be addressed.
‘Fundamental change required’
Auditors say doing so will require a clear delivery plan alongside tough decisions about how the services the NHS provides are changed or stopped altogether.
Auditor General Stephen Boyle said: “To safeguard the NHS, a fundamental change in how services are provided remains urgent.”
He said this would require difficult decisions about efficiency drives or withdrawing some services completely.
Mr Boyle added: “Taking those steps will require greater leadership from Scottish Government and NHS leaders than we’ve seen to date.”
SNP health chief Neil Gray agreed reform was necessary, but insisted “significant” work was underway through a £30 million investment to tackle backlogs.
He said: “This will see around 12,000 additional new outpatient appointments, around 12,000 additional inpatient/day-case procedures and over 40,000 diagnostic procedures delivered.”
Mr Gray said funding had increased in real terms by 30%, with more cash due to be announced at the Scottish budget on Wednesday.
North East MSP Tess White said compliance with waiting time target for psychological therapies was particularly important.
She said: “It’s now almost five years since Dr David Strang’s report.
“And it’s been seven since the Mulberry Unit in Angus moved 35 miles away to the Carseview centre. It never came back.
“We are past the point where any reasonable person would expect the SNP government to concede the board needs help in this area.
“I am now urging Neil Gray to personally address the future of these services across Tayside, rather than hide behind the usual excuses.”
Conversation