100k In Cancer Test Wait

Alarm bells ring as numbers of worried people who need to be screened keep growing

- Vivienne Aitken

A STAGGERING 100,000 people were waiting for cancer diagnostic tests in Scotland at the end of 2020 – a 15 per cent jump in a year.

Figures released by Public Health Scotland show the scale of the backlogs growing as a result of the pandemic.

Cancer charities said they were “deeply concerned” and opposition politicians called it “a catastrophe waiting to happen”.

Data on waiting times for eight key cancer diagnostic tests showed 100,913 patients waiting to be seen on December 31, down slightly on the end of September.

Kirsty Slack, of Cancer Research UK, said: “The pandemic has led to a worrying drop in the number of people being diagnosed with cancer and starting treatment.