By John Lamont MP
Shocking new statistics have revealed that less than half of patients at NHS Borders are starting cancer treatment within the government's target time of 62 days.
The figures from Public Health Scotland demonstrated that just 45.6 per cent of people receive treatment on time.
Across Scotland, the figure was 68.9 per cent, which is still poor but vastly better than performance in our local NHS board.
The SNP's target is for 95 per cent of all patients to be treated within this time, showing just how dreadful the situation is across Scotland and especially within NHS Borders.
My thoughts are with patients, and their families, who are dealing with these delays.
I was pleased to see Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay raise this issue in the Scottish Parliament and challenge the First Minister John Swinney on what urgent action he would take to fix it.
Russell cited the concerning figure for NHS Borders and urged the SNP government to put some of a £550 million underspend towards a new emergency cancer care fund.
Unfortunately, the SNP refused to agree to do so. They are not treating this issue with the relevant urgency.
Perhaps even more shockingly, the SNP health secretary Neil Gray was not even in the country to face scrutiny when the figures emerged. Despite knowing the statistics would be published, Mr Gray left Scotland on a visit to Japan.
While I accept international visits of this nature can help to promote Scottish exports, it's completely unacceptable for the health secretary to go abroad in the middle of a cancer care crisis.
The SNP are missing in action when patients desperately need them to get a grip of this situation.
There are actions that John Swinney's government could take to bring these waiting times down.
My party has consistently argued for more investment in frontline NHS services by reducing the amount that is spent on backroom bureaucracy.
While some back office functions are necessary, a fortune is being wasted on highly paid executives and middle managers who often don't work in or around hospitals. That money could be spent on nurses and doctors instead.
In general, we also want to see far less spent on divisive fringe obsessions like gender reforms or papers promoting independence.
If the SNP stopped wasting that money, the cancer care crisis could be brought under control. That's the responsible thing to do and they must listen.
