Question reference: S6W-02309
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 17 August 2021
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Current status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 18 October 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people it estimates have missed an early diagnosis of melanoma due to disruption to health services as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answer
The Scottish Government is committed to the early detection of cancer. We are in currently in the process of establishing Scotland’s first Early Cancer Diagnostic Centres which will see the creation of a person-centred fast-track pathway for patients with non-specific symptoms (i.e. weight loss, nausea, fatigue) suspicious of cancer. These centres have been in operation since June 2021 and are continually taking patients with plans for equitable access across Scotland over the course of this parliament.
An estimate of the number of patients who have missed an early diagnosis of melanoma can be made by using data from the Public Health Scotland (PHS) Covid Wider Impacts Dashboard ( https://scotland.shinyapps.io/phs-covid-wider-impact/ ). The data indicates there were a total of 1,131 individuals with pathologically confirmed specimens for malignant melanoma of the skin between 1 April 2020 and the week ending 21 st February 2021. This was 398 individuals fewer than in the same period one year before.
Therefore, the data suggests there have been around 400 fewer melanoma diagnoses overall during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic.