It is always refreshing to hear government ministers admit when things aren’t going to plan and that they need to do better.
And new Health Secretary Michael Matheson’s message is crystal clear – the Scottish Government’s record on cancer is unacceptable. Dismal is a more accurate description for the dire picture of oncology waiting times, with the latest figures the worst on record.
As a member of the government since the SNP swept to power in 2007, he bears some of the collective responsibility for the deterioration. At least by acknowledging how bad things are, he can now begin the long process of making key improvements.
The Scottish Government has created cancer diagnostic centres to help improve waiting times but Matheson is right, health boards need to step up to the mark and drive the waiting lists down by any means possible. A delay in diagnosis leads to a delay in treatment which can be the difference between life and death.
He is facing a huge job with junior doctor strike threats, never ending A&E queues and staffing shortages filling his in-tray. His vision of an expansion of primary care comes with no extra money so just how successful that will be remains to be seen. But he is confident solutions will be found, albeit he predicts they could take “years” to sort out.
Matheson is a former occupational therapist, so he knows of the NHS pressures from the other side. Perhaps his inside knowledge will be the key to finally getting to grips with the crisis.
Ready for reform
In today’s Daily Record, mum Anne-Marie Cockburn speaks movingly about her daughter Martha who died of an ecstasy overdose. It should make sobering reading for those politicians who believe the current “war on drugs” is the best way to save lives.
Anne-Marie is now a firm campaigner for decriminalising drugs in order to take them out of the hands of criminals. Today she will speak at a summit in Edinburgh, where others affected by drug addiction will back the call for reform.
The calls are well founded, given that Scotland is still suffering a drug crisis – with a death rate more than four times that of the UK as a whole. We are several stages beyond a red alert, with more than 100 people dying from overdoses every single month.
The Daily Record has steadfastly supported the decriminalisation of drug use so that our addiction crisis can be treated as a health emergency. For families like the Cockburns, such moves may come too late. But the change must come.
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