Nicola Sturgeon has been warned her government's failure to tackle the NHS waiting times crisis was "costing lives".
Anas Sarwar told the First Minister today that more than 3,300 Scots had been left waiting longer than the 62-day standard to begin cancer treatment in the past year.
The Scottish Labour leader raised the case of a mum-of-four from Edinburgh who waited seven months for a diagnosis only to be told she had an aggressive form of endometrial cancer.
Anne Sinclair, 64, waited a further five months for her treatment to start before she sadly died in the summer.
Sarwar told MSPs: "We know that the sooner you are diagnosed, and the sooner you start treatment, the more likely you are to survive.
"Anne tragically died this summer. She said that she did not want to go quietly.
"Her last words to her son, Ricky, were 'keep fighting, tell my story. We need to stop this happening to anyone else. I love you'.
"She wanted her case to be used as an example so that others would not have the experience she did.
"But Anne’s case isn’t an isolated one."
The tragic mum's wait for treatment was first raised in parliament back in February by her local MSP Foysol Choudhury.
The First Minister said at the time that Anne's situation "does not sound at all acceptable".
Speaking today, Sarwar continued: "In the past year, 3,393 people waited more than the 62-day standard for cancer treatment. A standard not met in ten years and getting worse.
"That means lives lost. The worst A&E waiting times on record. In one month alone, 13,000 patients waited over eight hours. The Royal College of Emergency Medicine has warned that means lives lost.
""This is a systemic failure on the SNP’s watch.
"Staff are being failed. Patients are being let down. Lives are being lost. How many more families have to suffer?
"How many more tragic stories have to come to this Parliament before Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf do their jobs?”
The First Minister offered her "sincere condolences" to Anne's family and friends and said it was "unacceptable" when NHS treatment fell short of "what all of us expect".
She added: "I'm never going to stop saying that. But that doesn't change the fact that, for the overwhelming majority of people, the NHS delivers an outstanding service.
"Cancer is a clinical priority and cancer should always be a priority."
She added: "We continue to invest in cancer services and we continue to invest in the early diagnosis of cancer.
"These issues are a priority. I don't shy away from the serious challenges and pressures on our National Health Service."
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