In December 2000 the Scottish Executive published Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change, which set out the first treatment targets specifically for cancer patients:
- By 2005, the maximum wait from urgent referral to treatment for all cancers will be two months [62 days]
- By October 2001, women who have breast cancer and are referred for urgent treatment will begin that treatment within one month [31 days] of diagnosis, where clinically appropriate
- By October 2001, the maximum wait from urgent referral to treatment for children's cancers and acute leukaemia will be one month [31 days]
In May 2006 a 5% tolerance was announced for the 62-day target, to account for patients for whom it is not clinically appropriate to expedite treatment.
See Our National Health Cancer Access Targets for further information.
In October 2008 the Scottish Government published Better Cancer Care, an Action Plan that announced new targets to reduce waiting times for cancer treatments, to be delivered by 2011. Tor the first time these targets include patients referred from the cancer screening programmes. Subsequently the scope for new waiting time targets has been defined as:
- From the quarter ending December 2011, 95 per cent of all patients diagnosed with cancer to begin treatment within 31 days of decision to treat,
- and 95 per cent of those referred urgently with a suspicion of cancer to begin treatment within 62 days of receipt of referral.
See Better Cancer Care Access Targets for further information.
CPST was set up in November 2006 to performance manage the 62-day urgent referral to treatment target across NHSScotland and offer intense support to NHS Boards with poorer performance or large scale challenge. Now CPST continues to support NHS Boards on the Our National Health and Better Cancer Care targets with a tactical, problem-solving role, tailored to the most challenging cancer pathways in NHS Boards.
See Cancer Performance Support Team for further information.