Health chiefs are set to open a mobile unit in a hospital car park - to clear a backlog of patients waiting for procedures which can detect stomach and bowel cancers.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has applied to the council for permission of a temporary facility at Gartnavel Royal Hospital that will carry out endoscopies.
Planning documents state the unit may be required for up to three years and is needed to address the current backlog of investigative procedures.
NHSGGC said clinics were continuing to run but with lower patient numbers due to continuing covid infection control requirements.
The unit will have the capacity to test up to 100 extra patients a week and health bosses hope it will be operational by the end of January.
Endoscopies are used to detect bowel and stomach cancers as well as polyps, pre-cancerous growths that can develop into the disease if not removed.
They can also pick up ulcers, coeliac disease or narrowing of the oesophagus.
Genevieve Edwards, chief executive of Bowel Cancer UK said said: "The situation facing cancer diagnostic services requires laser-like focus from key decisionmakers, and funds to invest in staff and equipment to remove the bottleneck that exists and ultimately save lives.
"We recognise the pandemic has put the NHS under tremendous strain but we are also aware that many of today's problems existed prior to Covid-19."
Official data shows 34,509 Scots patients were waiting for an endoscopy test on June 30.
Of those, 10.2 per cent (3,517) had been waiting more than a year and the percentage who had been waiting 39-52 weeks increased from 6.3 per cent to 7.8 per cent (3,290).
A spokesman for NHSGGC said: "As part of our recovery from the pandemic, we will provide additional capacity for scope procedures to help reduce waiting times.
"Our current endoscopy clinics continue to run with lower patient numbers due to continued social distancing and infection control requirements.
"The new unit, which is backed by Scottish Government funding, will help to deal with those pressures, treating around 20 patients a day.
"The unit on the Gartnavel Hospital campus will be available to patients from across the health board area.
"It is hoped the unit will be operational around the end of January 2022."
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