Written Question · S1W-04236 · Session 1
What improvements are being made in breast cancer care in Scotland.
The question
To ask the Scottish Executive what improvements are being made in breast cancer care in Scotland.
The answer
Cancer services are one of the three top clinical priorities for the NHS in Scotland. The Scottish Executive is committed to reducing the incidence of all forms of cancer, including breast cancer, and we have set a challenging target of reducing the incidence of cancer by 20% over the next 10 years.In order to meet those targets we have in place a number of different policies aimed at improvements in the treatment and care of people with cancer. These include:supporting the breast cancer screening programme with funds of over £5 million per year:
establishing one stop clinics for investigation and diagnosis of breast lumps, to reduce the anxiety of waiting for results;
setting a national maximum waiting time for cancer treatment, to be delivered by March 2001;
encouraging the use of the Scottish Intercollegiate Guideline Network (SIGN) guidelines on Breast Cancer in Women which was published in 1998;
renewing and updating the guidelines on the Referral of Women with Breast Problems and issuing them to all GPs in Scotland, including new evidence and guidance on determining the urgency of individual cases;
setting up three multi-disciplinary managed clinical networks on breast cancer across Scotland, allowing for the sharing and dissemination of good practice;
encouraging referral of patients to specialist breast surgeons;
undertaking prospective audits of breast cancer, among others, nationwide using the relevant SIGN guidelines;
having the Scottish Cancer Group work with the Clinical Standards Board for Scotland on ways of improving quality of cancer care generally and on developing standards for assessment and accreditation of cancer services;
supporting six research projects on or related to breast cancer through funding of £754,000;
funding the Cancer Therapy Network to encourage the entry of as many patients as possible to clinical trials at a cost of £1 million.
As cancer is an overall clinical priority for the NHS in Scotland and is tackled through many different routes, we do not require health boards and NHS Trusts to identify separately how much of their expenditure they devote to providing cancer services, but we expect them to give the treatment and care of all forms of cancer due priority in allocating their resources.
establishing one stop clinics for investigation and diagnosis of breast lumps, to reduce the anxiety of waiting for results;
setting a national maximum waiting time for cancer treatment, to be delivered by March 2001;
encouraging the use of the Scottish Intercollegiate Guideline Network (SIGN) guidelines on Breast Cancer in Women which was published in 1998;
renewing and updating the guidelines on the Referral of Women with Breast Problems and issuing them to all GPs in Scotland, including new evidence and guidance on determining the urgency of individual cases;
setting up three multi-disciplinary managed clinical networks on breast cancer across Scotland, allowing for the sharing and dissemination of good practice;
encouraging referral of patients to specialist breast surgeons;
undertaking prospective audits of breast cancer, among others, nationwide using the relevant SIGN guidelines;
having the Scottish Cancer Group work with the Clinical Standards Board for Scotland on ways of improving quality of cancer care generally and on developing standards for assessment and accreditation of cancer services;
supporting six research projects on or related to breast cancer through funding of £754,000;
funding the Cancer Therapy Network to encourage the entry of as many patients as possible to clinical trials at a cost of £1 million.
As cancer is an overall clinical priority for the NHS in Scotland and is tackled through many different routes, we do not require health boards and NHS Trusts to identify separately how much of their expenditure they devote to providing cancer services, but we expect them to give the treatment and care of all forms of cancer due priority in allocating their resources.
In the Official Report
No contribution in the Official Report cites S1W-04236 by reference.