Cancer patients could be sent to different health boards for surgery as pressure lifts from coronavirus.
An NHS recovery plan, published today, includes guidance on keeping patients and staff away from infection from Covid-19 in hospitals.
Patients will be put in four levels of priority, with the first for those needing operations with 24 hours. Some surgery could be delayed for more than three months under the plan.
The "framework", published by the Scottish Government, says there should be physical separation of Covid-19 positive and negative patients “where possible”.
Local demand could be eased by using beds across Scotland’s regions. This could include the use of the national NHS Golden Jubilee hospital and independent sites.
The plan follows emergency suspension of some procedures and tests as Scotland braced for coronavirus in hospitals.
It states: "As planned cancer surgery resumes it is essential that care is delivered safely, efficiently and sustainably whilst acknowledging the need to care for COVID-19 patients within the acute hospital sector."
Marion O’Neill, of Cancer Research UK, welcomed the new plans but pushed for screenings, diagnostic testing and effective treatments to be “reinstated without delay”, adding: “Patients’ lives depend on it.”
She said this will require the ramping up of testing to ensure cancer treatment and diagnosis areas are safe for patients.
Janice Preston, from Macmillan Cancer Support, said: “It is vital that cancer does not become the forgotten C as we deal with Covid-19, and this is an important step forward.”
The plans were confirmed today by Health Secretary Jeane Freeman. She said: “The postponement or delay of some cancer treatments, knowing the profound impact that would have on so many people, was one of the most difficult aspects of dealing with coronavirus.
“That is why we are acting to ensure the continued prioritisation of cancer as we begin to resume NHS services. We are asking health boards across Scotland to prioritise cancer treatment in the same way and work together to ensure patients are treated as early as is possible within those prioritisations.”
