GLASGOW HAS LOWEST UPTAKE OF BOWEL CANCER SCREENINGS
Scottish Labour’s Pam Duncan-Glancy MSP has warned that SNP Government failure is putting people in Glasgow at risk, as a new report reveals Glasgow has the lowest uptake of bowel cancer screenings across the country.
The report on the Scottish bowel cancer screening programme has revealed that just 62.4 per cent of Glaswegians participate. The figure is even lower for males, with just 59.7 per cent attending screenings, whilst it is 65 per cent for women.
The new data also shows that waiting times for colonoscopies in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde are soaring, with just 7.6 per cent of people being seen within 4 weeks of their positive referral, and 77 per cent waiting more than 8 weeks.
Scotland-wide 31.4 per cent of people waited more than four weeks, and over a third waited more than eight weeks.
The same report showed the vast gulf between the response rate in the most and least deprived areas widening, with an uptake rate of just 52.9 per cent in the most deprived areas compared to 73 per cent in the least deprived.
Commenting, Pam Duncan Glancy, MSP for the Glasgow Region said: “The SNP’s disastrous failures are undermining vital cancer screening programmes.
“Glasgow has the lowest uptake rate for screenings across the country, and the gap between those accessing screenings in the wealthiest and poorest areas is widening. “These screenings are more essential than ever in the aftermath of the pandemic – but waiting times continue to soar and health inequalities are growing, putting lives at risk.
‘It is people in the poorest communities that are facing the brunt of the consequences created by the SNP’s complete mishandling of our health service.
“It’s time for Humza Yousaf to get a grip of this chaos we are seeing across every part of our NHS. People in Glasgow need a health secretary that is going to sort out this mess.
ENDS Notes
Scottish bowel screening programme statistics – 1st of May 2020 to the 30th of April 2022:
Across Scotland 67% of people successfully returned their kit – however, there was a 21 percentage point gap between the most (54%) and the least (75%) deprived areas.
Waiting times for colonoscopies have increased across the country since last year’s report, with only 31% of people being seen within 4 weeks of their positive referral, a reduction of 8 percentage points since last year’s report. Additionally, 34% waited more than eight weeks for their colonoscopy, an increase of 7 percentage points since last year’s report
