Chamber and committees

Healthcare Improvement Scotland is leading on a review of these Scottish Referral Guidelines for Suspected Cancer. The guidelines for breast, lung and colorectal cancers were published in October 2013. Revised guidelines for suspected oesophagogastric, hepatobiliary and pancreatic cancers, skin, and urological cancers were published in May 2014.

The remaining guidelines are under review and all guidelines will be published by summer 2014. A further sub-group has been convened to support the effective dissemination of the revised guidelines with support from Macmillan Cancer Support.

In addition, following discussions of the referral guidelines at the Cross Party Group on Cancer on 20 May 2014 the Scottish Primary Care Cancer Group will engage with colleagues specialising in pancreatic cancer to facilitate further discussions on referral guidelines and pathways.

As noted on the NHS inform website the Scottish Government recognises dieticians as a core part of a multidisciplinary team.

We would encourage NHS boards to ensure that this is the case with regard to pancreatic cancer multidisciplinary teams.

The most recent published comparison of cancer survival in the UK is available from the European Cancer Registry Based Study on Survival and Care of Cancer Patients (EUROCARE-5), which relates to the period of diagnosis 2000-07.

According to this study, one year and five year relative survival probabilities for pancreatic cancer in Scotland are not significantly different from the other parts of the UK.

Tables 1a and 1b show the cumulative relative survival (percentage) up to a) one year and b) five years after diagnosis of pancreatic cancer for patients aged 15 years and over in Scotland compared with other parts of the UK.

Table 1a: Survival at one year after diagnosis of pancreatic cancer (2000-07)

United Kingdom; males and females aged 15 and over.

Table 1b: Survival at five years after diagnosis of pancreatic cancer (2000-2007)

United Kingdom; males and females aged 15 and over.

Source: European Cancer Registry Based Study on Survival and Care of Cancer Patients (EUROCARE-5).

Date extracted: 03-06-2014

NHS boards have well-established ‘urgent suspected cancer’ GP referral pathways to facilitate prompt diagnosis of cancer. To support these pathways and support effective referral to secondary care, the Scottish Cancer Taskforce has recently asked NHS boards to confirm what systems are in place to support direct access to imaging modalities for primary care practitioners.

The role of the Scottish Government is to provide policies, frameworks and resources to NHS boards in order that they can deliver services that meet the needs of their local population. Within this context, the actual planning and provision of healthcare services is the responsibility of local health boards, taking into account national guidance, local service needs and priorities for investment. This includes deciding how best to utilise funding, facilities and staff.

We expect NHS boards to plan their facilities and workforce to deliver these services and to have robust processes in place to ensure the provision of safe, effective and high quality patient care, which is delivered by the right professional at the right time. NHS boards have fully delegated powers to recruit and deploy their workforce to meet their service provision responsibilities and to deliver high quality, safe and sustainable services to meet the needs of their population.

Whilst recognising that it is NHS boards’ responsibility to plan and deliver services, including specialist nursing services, taking account of national priorities and local need, there is awareness within the Scottish Government of the increasing prominence of the issue of specialist nursing services.

The Chief Nursing Officer therefore wrote to all NHS boards asking Nurse Directors to consider the implications of the recent reports on this issue by our third sector partners in terms of their current approach, future plans for provision and potential solutions to any common challenges identified.

The Scottish Government commissioned NHS Education for Scotland to host three regional workshops to provide opportunities for specialist nurse groups and other stakeholders to explore current provision and the future direction of specialist nursing in Scotland.

The number of samples sent to Porton Down Rare and Imported Pathogens Laboratory (RIPL) from Scotland since 2007 are shown in the following table. It has not been possible to provide pre-2007 data because of changes to how this information was collected at RIPL.

RIPL is an internationally recognised reference laboratory offering reference diagnostic services for dangerous pathogens. RIPL provides specialist expertise and advice throughout the UK, Europe and worldwide. Scotland requests and pays for any testing currently carried out there on our behalf.

NHS National Services Scotland’s National Services Division has confirmed that access to specialist healthcare in England will be unaffected following independence.

After independence Scotland will maintain a very strong relationship with the other countries of the UK. Scotland will continue to work with other parts of the UK to provide services where this provides access to the highest quality of care and delivers the best outcomes. There are already effective cross-border working arrangements in place which will provide a strong foundation for continue cooperation.

Scottish Government funding available for employment initiatives and job creation are contained within budget level 3:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2014/01/6802

The following table sets out the number of ophthalmic oncology referrals from Scotland to the Clatterbridge Hospital in England for low-intensity proton beam therapy.

Table 1: Patients referred to NHS England for proton beam therapy

Source: NHS National Specialist and Screening Services Directorate

The information requested is contained in the following table:

Scottish residents who received a cardiothoracic transplant at Newcastle, Freeman Hospital 1 April 2004 to 31 March 2014:

Source: NHS Blood and Transplant

# to prevent disclosure or patient identification, some values have been suppressed (mainly values of five of less, but other values may also be suppressed if publication could lead to deduction of other small numbers).