WE were concerned to hear that Health Improvement Scotland has issued a report into the clinical management of breast cancer in NHS Tayside which highlighted significant variation in two key areas of breast cancer treatment being offered in the area ("NHS Tayside to change cancer sufferers’ treatment", The Herald, April 2).
We would encourage anyone who thinks they may be affected to contact their GP or oncologist to discuss their concerns.
It’s extremely concerning that a decision was taken in these areas to offer a lower dose of FEC-T chemotherapy to all patients, and we now need to understand what clinical impact this may have. It’s vital that the same standard of care is in place no matter where patients live in Scotland, with best practice guidelines and patients’ individual circumstances being taken into account to enable patients to make informed decisions about their care.
It’s also completely unacceptable that Oncotype DX has not been routinely offered to eligible patients in NHS Tayside. Tests like this can be vital in guiding decisions about whether chemotherapy is necessary or whether early breast cancer patients can be safely spared its difficult side-effects, and we must ensure equal access across the country to enable all Scottish patients to receive the best treatment for them.
These issues must now be addressed as soon as possible. We welcome the Scottish Government’s commitment to ensuring that health boards adhere to clinical management guidelines and now hope that NHS Tayside act will swiftly on the recommendations of this report.
Ashleigh Simpson,
Policy and Campaigns Manager (Scotland), Breast Cancer Care and Breast Cancer Now,
222/Leith Walk, Edinburgh.
IS anyone as worried as I am about our precious NHS Scotland? Everyone should be. Our devolved powers have ensured that the Scottish health service remains a publicly funded one unfettered by the inexorable privatisation creep evident in the NHS in England.
Funded to a record level (more than £13.1 billion this year) and with patient satisfaction at its highest level on record with 90 per of Scottish health service patients rating their care as good or excellent, we are teetering on a precipice.
Because of Brexit and the UK Withdrawal Bill, which is not compatible with devolution and dilutes the powers of the Scottish Parliament, Westminster has grabbed back some devolved powers that affect health and procurement. The Scottish health service is at risk of being systematically sold off as the Westminster Government chases a trade deal with the USA that puts us in danger of being opened up to US private healthcare firms.
Our health service will be diminished and may even be destroyed if we don’t do everything we can to oppose Westminster’s grab for power. Let’s do everything, anything we can to keep our Scottish health service safe, including supporting the Scottish EU Continuity Bill if necessary.
Gillian Needham,
Emeritus Professor (Postgraduate Medical Education),
Woodside of Melgum, Tarland.
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