Cancer treatment waiting times in Scotland have fallen to their worst level since records began, prompting widespread alarm and accusations of chronic NHS mismanagement under the SNP government.
New data from Public Health Scotland revealed that just 68.9% of patients referred for urgent cancer treatment between January and March 2025 began care within the Scottish Government’s 62-day target – a sharp decline from 73.5% in the previous quarter and far below the pre-pandemic rate of 83.7%.
The national target of 95%, in place since 2012, has not been met once in over a decade.
Opposition parties have condemned the figures, warning of a looming “cancer time bomb” and branding the statistics as “appalling”. Only NHS Lanarkshire met the 62-day standard, while all 13 other health boards across Scotland fell short. Additionally, only 94.1% of patients began treatment within 31 days of a decision to treat – below the 95% benchmark and a further slip from 96.5% pre-pandemic.
Critics, including Scottish Labour, the Conservatives, and the Liberal Democrats, have demanded urgent reform, pointing to critical staff shortages, regional disparities in access to care, and the Government’s repeated failure to hit its own targets.
Scottish Labour’s health spokesperson Jackie Baillie said cancer patients were being “abandoned”, adding that delays were putting lives at risk. Scottish Conservative health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane, an NHS doctor, said the data confirmed “a ticking time bomb” and accused SNP ministers of making “pitiful excuses” for systemic failure.
Scottish Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton echoed concerns, saying cancer patients “cannot depend” on the SNP government and highlighting the acute shortage of oncologists as the worst in the UK.
Despite the gravity of the data, Health Secretary Neil Gray was abroad in Japan on a ministerial visit to promote Scotland’s health innovation sector. Junior minister Jenni Minto presented the findings to Cabinet in his absence.
In a statement, Mr Gray described the missed target as “disappointing” but claimed the median wait for cancer treatment was 52 days and stressed that the number of patients treated on time had increased since 2019.
The Government has allocated £14.23 million from a planned £106 million budget for 2025/26 to address cancer waiting times, with particular focus on colorectal, urological, and breast cancer pathways.
However, pressure is mounting for stronger and faster interventions, as record-high referrals continue to strain NHS capacity. From January to March alone, 4,373 referrals were made under the 62-day pathway — a 17.5% increase since the pandemic.
Without urgent and comprehensive action, campaigners and healthcare professionals fear Scotland’s cancer care crisis will only deepen — with devastating consequences for patients and families across the country.
