One of Scotland’s leading public health experts has called for “clear plans and clear messaging” about restarting of NHS Scotland services cancelled due to coronavirus. 

Professor Linda Bauld warned conditions like cancer and heart disease aren’t “going away" and cases are building up.

But the University of Edinburgh academic said there is “more hesitancy” about getting key parts of the health service up and running in Scotland than there is in England, where bosses instructed hospitals to return to pre-pandemic levels of surgery and urgent treatments.

More than 1,000 people have died from conditions like cancer, heart disease and stroke than would normally be expected since the virus hit Scotland, latest figures show.

Professor Bauld warned these “unintended health consequences” were becoming the “collateral damage of lockdown measures”.

Figures from Cancer Research UK suggest around 2,000 urgent referrals for cancer tests by GPs are no longer happening due to covid-19, while nearly 300 diagnoses are likely to have been missed because screening programmes have been halted.

Professor Bauld said a look at cancelled NHS services was needed that includes routine procedures like hip and knee replacements that are leaving patients waiting for surgery in pain, as well as screening and treatments that can extend the lives of people who are terminally ill.

“It would be good to get clearer messaging and clear plans for all the boards,” she said.

“[The Scottish Government] should ideally be restarting these types of treatments and support for members of the public and patients who need them. Cancer isn’t going away, heart disease isn’t going away.

“If we can restart these treatments and procedures then we should be doing that.

“That includes some things like elective procedures which are important to some people who are experiencing ongoing symptoms, discomfort and pain associated with what they need the treatment for.”

Professor Bauld also said testing of NHS staff and patients was not happening “at the scale it should be”, adding it was “absolutely crucial” for vulnerable cancer patients who might be on medication that suppresses their immune system.

Doctors have previously raised concerns about the level of testing among cancer patients and staff, flagging it as a ‘priority’ to a Scottish government advisory group in March.

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