NHS Highland has recorded one of the lowest average cancer waiting times in Scotland – despite one patient put on hold for almost a year before being treated.
New figures show that the north health board had the second lowest “median wait” for cancer treatment, at 33 days, between October 1 and December 31 last year.
However, it also recorded the second highest “maximum wait” at 302 days, and fell short of the Scottish Government’s target to have 95% patients treated within 62 days of referral.
Statistics for NHS Highland show that 131 of 152 referrals received treatment on target, or 86.2%.
NHS Western Isles had the lowest proportion of referrals meeting the target, at 66.7%, or 14 out of 21 patients.
NHS Orkney and NHS Shetland both hit the target for all urgent cancer referrals in the period.
Across Scotland, 87.5% of patients – 2,846 out of 3,254 – started treatment within the 62-day standard in the final quarter of last year.
On a separate target to have 95% patients who need treatment starting it within 31 days, the health boards on the Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland all had 100% records in the period, with NHS Highland meeting it in 95.7% of cases.
A spokesman for NHS Highland said: “Unfortunately our performance against the 62 Day standard which measures the waiting time for treatment start for patients referred with a suspicion of cancer continues to challenge boards in Scotland.
“Within Highland we have particular pressures in meeting the targets within urology and colorectal. Urology in particular is a problem for most of the boards in Scotland.
“We are working with national colleagues to improve matters and have agreed a number of actions but these will take time to implement. All patients are treated on a case by case basis in order to minimise any delay as much as possible.”
Gregor McNie, of Cancer Research UK, said: “These latest figures show once again a worrying picture for cancer services, with many patients still waiting an unacceptably long time to start cancer treatment.
“Speedy diagnosis and access to treatment is key to improving someone’s chances of survival so it’s absolutely critical we see improvements soon.”
Health Secretary Shona Robison said: “Backed by our five-year £100 million cancer strategy, last December I announced a number of changes to benefit patients and increase access for all cancer patients – particularly focused on urology and colorectal cancer.
“We are also reforming outpatient services, streamlining access to cancer specialists and decreasing the time it takes to get a diagnosis.”
