GLASGOW'S local health board is facing criticism after failing to meet cancer waiting times over the past few months. 

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) was one of 12 health boards which did not meet the 62-day waiting time target to treat people diagnosed with cancer between July and September this year. 

The target, set out by the Scottish Government, states that 95 per cent of eligible patients will wait a maximum of 62 days from urgent referral to their first cancer treatment.

According to figures published by ISD Scotland, only 80.0 per cent of around 1,000 eligible patients started their treatment within this time frame over the three months in the area. 

Across Scotland, only 83.3 per cent of 3,917 patients met the same standard. 

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The figure represented a slight rise on the 82.4 per cent recorded in the previous quarter.

NHS Lanarkshire (96.2 per cent) and NHS Tayside (95.2 per cent) were the only boards to meet the 95 per cent target for eligible patients.

Scottish Labour health spokeswoman Monica Lennon told Health Secretary Jeane Freeman she should urgently set out plans to increase capacity in cancer detection and treatment.

"Early detection and treatment is crucial to chances of survival and it's really concerning that the treatment waiting time target continues to be missed," she said.

"Scottish Labour supports a two-week waiting time for cancer diagnosis to raise survival rates and to prevent thousands of people enduring a worrying wait to begin treatment.

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"There's also worrying variation across health boards, with one in five cancer patients in Greater Glasgow and Clyde and Lothian having to wait longer than the two-month target.

"It isn't good enough and the Health Secretary must set out in detail how she will urgently increase capacity in cancer detection and treatment to deliver the care that people need."

Analysis by ISD Scotland also shows the Scottish Government's 31-day standard - which states that 95 per cent of all patients will wait no longer than this from the decision to treat to first cancer treatment - was met, with 95.8 per cent of 6,531 eligible patients over the period receiving first treatment.

Lorraine Sloan from Macmillan Cancer Support said: "Waiting for a cancer diagnosis, or for treatment to begin, is extremely stressful.

"We know staff are working very hard to give cancer patients the care and support they need but there just aren't enough of them to meet the ever-growing demand.

"The health and social care workforce plan published yesterday recognises these staffing challenges.

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"We look forward to working with the Scottish Government as they determine the shape of the cancer workforce, ensuring it meets people's needs during and after treatment, as well as at diagnosis."

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said: "It's welcome that our NHS is treating more patients within both targets than we were during the same period last year.

"However, we're determined to go further as there are some people who are having to wait too long for treatment.

"Once a decision to treat has been reached, cancer patients in Scotland wait, on average, five days for it to begin.

"Almost £20 million has been made available to support improvements in cancer and diagnostic performance this year - including actions focused on improving performance in both colorectal and urological cancer."

A NHSGGC spokesperson said: "We treat a significant number of cancer patients every year and see a range of complex cases from across the West of Scotland and are working hard to improve performance for all our patients affected by cancer.

"While performance in relation to 62 day waits remains challenging for some cancer types, we achieved the target in seven out of 10 cancer types in the 31 day performance.

"We continue our work to improve performance around breast cancer and have recently invested in new equipment to improve our waiting times for surgery. This is in addition to our investment in Advanced Nurse Practitioners, reporting mammographers and additional medical staff.

"We have undertaken significant work to improve our waits for colorectal cancer and our waiting times have reduced as planned with our performance in part impacted on increased numbers of patients who have now been treated.

"Our Board remains committed to improving waiting times for patients with cancer and will continue to work with clinical teams to ensure this continues to improve in spite of increasing demand for our services."