Murdo says patients in Fife are facing a “ticking timebomb” when it comes to cancer cases.
His call comes after new statistics showed only 71.1% of cancer patients across Scotland started treatment two months after being referred between October and December last year.
In NHS Fife, only 73.3% were seen within the two-month target time. That was worse than the previous quarter when 74.9% of cancer patients started treatment within 62 days.
Murdor says that starting treatment early is “crucial” for a patient’s chance of survival and successive SNP Health Secretaries – including the disgraced Michael Matheson – have failed to get a grip of a “cancer crisis” in Fife for far too long. One patient in Fife waited a “scarcely believable” 254 days to begin treatment.
Commenting, Murdo said: “We are facing a ticking timebomb when it comes to cancer cases in Fife. It should shame SNP ministers that only 73.3% of cancer patients started treatment within two months in the last few months of last year.
“Everyone knows someone who has been diagnosed with this awful disease and how crucial starting treatment is for their chances of survival.
“Successive SNP Health Secretaries have simply failed to get a grip of this cancer crisis in Fife for far too long.”
Murdo continued: “It is scarcely believable that one patient waited 254 days to begin treatment.
“I urge Neil Gray – the SNP Health Secretary – to urgently improve this situation for cancer patients in Fife, otherwise more of them will face deadly consequences.”
