Women suffering ‘sleepless nights’ due to long waits for cancer checks, Labour warns

Women are suffering “anxiety and stress” as they can face waits of several months for key cervical cancer tests, Labour has warned.

Figures for 2024 showed one woman in the NHS Tayside area had to wait 266 days for a colposcopy – the procedure carried out after an abnormal smear test to check for cervical cancer or pre-cancerous cells.

Meanwhile, in NHS Borders the longest wait a patient had for the test last year was 259 days, while NHS Ayrshire and Arran recorded a wait of 238 days for the vital procedure.

Average waits for the procedure varied from 24 days in NHS Lothian last year to 91 days in NHS Ayrshire and Arran

NHS Borders had an average waiting time of 78 days in 2024 – with this 200% higher than the average 26-day wait pre-pandemic in 2019.

In NHS Tayside the average wait times increased 150% over the same five-year period, going from 28 to 70 days.

Labour health spokesperson Jackie Baillie said: “For those who have been referred for a follow up test, every day without an appointment is another day filled with anxiety and stress followed by a sleepless night.”

The Labour MSP added: “Routine checks prevent tragedy but they only work if the results are quickly processed and at-risk patients identified.

“Cancer doesn’t wait – the SNP must ensure that every woman who gets tested is confident that the NHS is there for her if she needs it.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson stressed that “excessively long waits are not acceptable”, adding the government is “working intensively with NHS boards to reduce the length of time people are waiting for appointments and treatment”.

The spokesperson added that “one of the initial priorities of the Women’s Health Plan is to improve access for women to appropriate support, diagnosis, and treatment”.

And they stated: “We are making progress with latest figures showing improvements in new outpatient, diagnostic and inpatient/day case waiting times performance.

“Diagnostic waits are at their lowest since October 2021. We have surpassed our pledge to carry out 64,000 procedures by end of March 2025 through £30m of targeted funding, with boards reporting delivery of 75,500 appointments and procedures as of 31 January 2025.

“We want patients to be treated as soon as possible. That is why we are investing £200m to reduce waits, enhance capacity and reduce delayed discharge.

“We are also looking to optimise the full force of the £21.7bn committed through the Scottish Budget to health and social care to improve performance.

“By March 2026, we expect no one to wait longer than 12 months for a new outpatient appointment, inpatient treatment or day case treatment.”