NHS Highland chairwoman says sorry to cancer patients who lost access to chemo
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NHS Highland’s chairwoman has said she is “really sorry” that 76 cancer patients lost access to chemotherapy.
In an exclusive interview with The Inverness Courier, Sarah Compton-Bishop explained that a locum oncologist’s leaving unexpectedly had led to the situation that has seen dozens of cancer patients facing delays to their treatment.
It is hoped other Scottish health authorities will be able to provide for those affected, with NHS Grampian and NHS Tayside having agreed to take one patient each so far.
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Ms Compton-Bishop said: “What’s happened here with the oncology is obviously really awful for the patients and the families that are affected.
“I would just like to take the opportunity to say I am, absolutely, really sorry that this has happened.
“It’s not what anybody would wish for.
“As you will have seen, we had a situation where our very specialist oncologist who was dealing with this left somewhat unexpectedly and left us in the situation.
“Now, as I said, it is a national issue with this particular speciality but because of how our services are structured due to our remote and rural nature we felt (the effect of) it much more.
“We are working really very hard – as you would expect for something of this level of importance and severity – and obviously trying to see what longer term solutions there are as well.”
In a further statement the health board said earlier this week: “Over the past week we have been offered support from all of the Cancer Centres across Scotland.
“We are extremely grateful for this support, and we will continue to work collaboratively with boards across the country to identify clinical solutions.
“A national colorectal oncology co-ordination group is meeting before the end of this week to robustly plan how these patients will be allocated across each board.
“Our priority is to give patients assurance and to reduce their anxiety of not knowing when they will have their next treatment or review.
“As of today, we have 64 return and 12 new patients requiring still to be allocated, with 76 patients in total from both Highland and Western Isles.
“Not all patients will need to travel but it is important for quality and safety of patients that some are seen for face-to-face review.
“We hope to utilise near me for a majority of these patients.”
