Latest news with #Gulhane
The Herald Scotland
a day ago
- Health
- The Herald Scotland
6% of lung cancer patients died within 30 days of treatment
The Scottish Conservatives have warned SNP ministers to 'get a grip' of the cancer crisis or risk more lives being lost. Public Health Scotland published its annual report on the number of patients who died within a month of starting their last cycle of systemic anti-cancer therapy (SACT). The Scottish Government does not currently have statutory targets set for SACT 30-day mortality. However, the highest reported cancer mortality within 30 days of starting treatment is lung and chest at 5.8%, according to the report. Out of the 2,496 people who began treatment for lung and chest cancer last year, 144 people died within the month of treatment. Dr Sandesh Gulhane, a GP and health spokesman for the Scottish Tories, said more work must be done to discover the cancer early. Read more: SACT drugs include cytotoxic chemotherapy, targeted therapies and immunotherapy. The deaths can be directly due to the treatment received, but deaths unrelated to treatment are also included in the statistics. These deaths could be due to disease progression, co-morbidities or any other unrelated cause. At the start of each treatment cycle, a prescriber assesses the patient to determine whether the treatment is suitable and safe. A decision to treat reflects the prescriber's belief that the treatment is likely to benefit the patient and outweigh any harmful side effects, including irreversible toxicity and the patient dying. The lowest 30-day mortality was for SACT treatment was breast cancer at 2%, with 95 out of 4,707 patients dying. However, 1.7% of the 460 patients treated for curable lung and chest cancer died within 30 days of their last treatment, compared to 6.6% of the 2,067 patients treated for non-curable diagnoses. At NHS Ayrshire and Arran, the highest 30-day mortality was 8.6%, where 13 patients died out of 152 patients. Dr Gulhane told The Herald: 'These harrowing statistics must be an urgent wake-up call for the SNP. 'Successive SNP health secretaries have failed to get a grip of Scotland's cancer care crisis and lives are being lost as a result. Read more: 'Everyone knows how crucial early diagnosis and treatment is when tackling an aggressive form of the disease such as lung cancer, so it is even more devastating that lives are being lost within a month of starting treatment. 'We cannot keep letting more and more families across Scotland experience the loss of loved ones in this way. 'The SNP have failed to meet their cancer waiting time targets for well over a decade now, but they still have no plan to address this ticking timebomb. 'Neil Gray should show common sense and prioritise early detection programs, promote healthy lifestyles and guarantee cancer services will have the resources they need to support patients.' It comes as the Scottish Government were last month urged by the Scottish Liberal Democrats to roll out a lung cancer screening programme to save thousands of lives. The programme was first recommended three years ago by the UK National Screening Committee, with target screening suggested for those aged 55 to 75 who currently smoke or used to. Cancer Research UK suggested around 4,000 cancer suffers could be diagnosed earlier with the scheme, saving at least 2,000 lives. Screening is already up and running in England and there are similar plans being developed in Wales, however the Scottish Government does not currently plan to introduce a programme. A Scottish Government spokesperson said: 'We are determined to improve cancer survival, and we know earlier diagnosis is crucial. That is why we have already committed to a lung screening pilot which will initially concentrate on some of the most deprived areas in Scotland, as the first step to a national rollout. 'We have published an optimal diagnostic pathway for lung cancer, supported by almost £3.5 million, setting ambitious timeframes for diagnosis and treatment. 'Lung cancer is one of the most common cancers being diagnosed by our Rapid Cancer Diagnostic Services, which are finding cancer faster, evaluation shows it can reduce the time from referral to diagnosis for patients to a median wait of 14 days.'
STV News
15-07-2025
- Health
- STV News
Ambulance staff have worked more than 2.7m hours of overtime since 2020
Ambulance staff in Scotland have worked more than 2.7 million hours of overtime, figures show, at a cost of almost £74 million to the taxpayer. Statistics released to the Scottish Conservatives under freedom of information legislation showed 2,718,922 hours of overtime were worked by paramedics, ambulance technicians, care assistants and specialist nurses between 2020 and 2024. The figure peaked in 2022, when 581,155 overtime hours were worked. While 2023 was the highest year for overtime spend, costing just shy of £15.7 million. Figures for 2023 and 2024 also assess how many required hours in the ambulance service are filled by staff working overtime. For those years, the proportion was 24% and 23% respectively. Scottish Tory health spokesman, Dr Sandesh Gulhane, hit out at the figures, saying it was 'completely unacceptable' the ambulance service was being 'kept afloat' by overtime. 'This will be pushing already exhausted staff beyond breaking point and is completely unsustainable,' he said. 'Relying on overstretched staff to plug gaps in shift will be putting staff as well as patients at serious risk. 'Ambulance crews have been left dangerously understaffed because of years of dire workforce planning by successive SNP health secretaries who are clueless to the scale of the emergency facing them. 'The SNP have also failed to meet their own A&E waiting time target in five years. 'These delays leave ambulances stuck outside hospitals for hours instead of continuing to respond to emergencies.' The NHS, Dr Gulhane said, is in a 'state of permanent crisis'. A spokesman for the Scottish Ambulance Service said: 'Our staff do a fantastic job helping patients and saving lives across Scotland each and every day. 'To support them, over the last three years, we've recruited a record 1,388 staff, introduced 52 additional ambulances, aligned shift patterns to meet patient demand and expanded into 10 new locations as part of our demand and capacity programme. 'Since the recruitment of the additional staff we have seen a reduction in total overtime hours despite significant issues at some hospital sites in relation to turnaround times. 'As with all ambulance services across the UK, we offer overtime to boost shift cover during periods of increased pressure and high demand, and we continue to monitor spend.' Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
The Herald Scotland
14-06-2025
- Health
- The Herald Scotland
Tories propose 'Scottish first' approach to medical training
The new proposals were unveiled as party members gathered in Edinburgh for their annual conference. READ MORE 'What we've got is Scottish students not getting jobs in Scotland and they are leaving across the world," Dr Gulhane said. 'The SNP was great at training doctors for Australia. It's an absolute disgrace.' He added: 'We would offer Scottish graduates first because they tend to stay, and more than that, they tend to stay where they're from. So if you're from an island or a rural area, you will want to go back to that place. That creates GPs in areas that we are desperate for.' Dr Gulhane also unveiled a plan for a 'seven-day-a-week GP-led service', supported by targeted investment in the NHS's core funding mechanism for general practices. 'We would create a seven-day-a-week GP service,' he said. 'We have this unique position where we have unemployed GPs, and yet everyone wants to see a GP. 'We literally have unemployed GPs, so we would start actually using the capacity that was there.' He said his party would 'put money into Global Sum specifically ring-fenced for additional GP appointments.' 'So an example I always give is if you've got a urine infection, it's not an emergency, but you need to get seen,' he said. 'If you can't get a GP appointment during the day, you will call up NHS24 because it hurts, it's uncomfortable and whilst you're not desperately unwell, you deserve to get treated. 'But if I've created more capacity in GP, you will get treated in GP, which means you're not calling NHS24, which means urgent and emergency patients get through. And they get seen by a GP.' He added: 'There are going to be people who spill over, and there's going to be people who need to be seen urgently in the evening and I, as a practising GP, understand that, and I'm creating a policy that makes sense. 'So we would put more money into NHS24. And that is, again, ring-fenced, specifically for GP appointments.' Dr Gulhane said he wanted to see a shift toward early intervention in healthcare to reduce pressure on hospitals and specialist services. 'It saves us money because if you're a bit sad and you come to see me and I get on top of that and I help you and I get you into, say, a talking therapy and we solve your being a bit sad, you're not going to be depressed,' he said. 'Depression and sadness are very different things, but I can treat you early and I can get on top of the problem early, which means you don't progress in needing secondary care.'
The National
05-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The National
John Swinney responds to 'controversial' ScotRail AI voiceover
The Government-owned train operator recently rolled out 'Iona', an AI voice on some routes, which replaced older messages recorded by Mathers since 2005. While established Scottish voiceover artist and actress Gayanne Potter is seeking 'an apology from ScotRail and an acknowledgement they have made a mistake' when basing "Iona" on recordings she made in 2021 without her consent, Mathers revealed to The National she also had no knowledge of the AI rollout. ScotRail later told Mathers's agent which trains the AI has now been rolled out on and contracted the actress for another six months of usage. READ MORE: I've voiced ScotRail trains for 20 years. No one told me AI was replacing me During FMQs on Thursday, Tory MSP Sandesh Gulhane asked the First Minister about the issue, to which John Swinney said Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop had told him ScotRail were "fixing it", referring to the voiceover. Gulhane said: "ScotRail is owned by the Scottish Government, yet it has chosen to use an AI voice, instead of employing a Scottish voice actor. "Is this how the Scottish Government supports actors?" Responding to Gulhane, Swinney said: "ScotRail have taken forward a development and I understand it has caused some controversy. "I'm sure ScotRail is engaging constructively with all concerned. "I think sometimes, these things just need careful handling, and I'm sure ScotRail will be doing exactly that. "The Transport Secretary tells me they're fixing it, so they'll be fixing it." ScotRail has been contacted for comment. READ MORE: Union slams Scottish companies using voice data without consent for new AI announcers SNP MSP Ben Macpherson has earlier highlighted Netflix's experience of filming Department Q — a drama currently ranked number one in the UK — in Edinburgh, asking the First Minister what was being done to encourage the growth of Scotland's film industry. Swinney said: "I welcome very much the investments that were made surrounding Department Q. I think it's been a tremendous success, and will be a great advert and showcase for our country. He added: "We have increased the budget for Screen Scotland and of course, the screen strategy that was published last year outlines an ambitious plan to grow the sector further and to combine international investment with increased support for emerging Scottish producers and local creative originations."
