NHS boards in Scotland will receive £10 million to improve cancer waiting times, Humza Yousaf has announced.
The health secretary said the money would go towards staff skills, more diagnostic tests and increased working hours.
The announcement came as the SNP minister visited one of Scotland’s first Early Cancer Diagnostic Centres in Fife on Monday.
The centre, one of three currently in place around Scotland, allows GPs to refer patients with non-specific cancer symptoms onto fast-track diagnostic programmes.
The coronavirus pandemic has led to a massive backlog in cancer treatment. Official figures show that over the last three months of 2020 there were 485 people who waited longer than two months to start their cancer treatment, despite being urgently referred.
Yousaf said: “Limiting the impact of Covid-19 on cancer patients has been a top priority in all of our planning, with the majority of vital cancer treatments continuing throughout the pandemic.
“Our commitment to finding and treating cancer as early as possible has never been greater.
“The establishment of Scotland’s first three Early Cancer Diagnostic Centres demonstrates this.
“We had pledged to open three centres within the first 100 days of this Government, so I’m delighted to say we’ve delivered on that commitment."
“This £10 million will enable boards to further recover and redesign cancer services for patients across Scotland and drive improvements in waiting times.”
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