PATIENTS are waiting longer than ever for tests that can detect cancer early, with waiting times for treatment and outpatient clinics also up on a year ago.

A record number of patients - 13,566 - were waiting more than six weeks by the end of June this year for one of eight key diagnostic tests, such as CT scans or colonoscopies, which are considered high-priority due to their role in identifying potentially life-threatening conditions such as cancer.

In the past year, the percentage of patients undergoing these checks on time has fallen steadily from 92.2 per cent in June 2016 to 82.9 per cent in June 2017.

In NHS Lothian, one in every four patients waited longer than six weeks for a key diagnostic test while in Ayrshire and Arran more than a third of patients were waiting too longer.

This varied drastically from other health boards including Forth Valley, Dumfries and Galloway and Lanarkshire where compliance with the six-week target was close to 100 per cent.

Performance is particularly poor in relation to endoscopy, with 8,362 patients waiting too long in June this year compared to 2,563 at the same point in 2016. Endoscopy includes colonoscopies and cystoscopies which are used to pick up bowel or bladder cancer respectively, as well as removing bladder stones or polyps, while an upper endoscopy will probe for tumours, ulcers or inflammation in the throat and stomach. Only 64.3 per cent of patients received an endoscopy within six weeks of referral in June this year, down nearly 20 per cent in a year.

Radiology tests, which include CT scans, MRI scans and ultrasounds not related to pregnancy, fell less sharply from 95.1 per cent in June 2016 to 90.7 per cent this year. However, the number of patients waiting over six weeks has rocketed from 329 at the end of November 2015 to a record 5,543 by April this year.

Gregor McNie, Cancer Research UK’s senior public affairs manager for Scotland, said the figures were "extremely worrying" and called for the endoscopy delays to be addressed "as a priority". He added: “There are also huge variations in performance between health boards. It may be that capacity and skills could be shared to alleviate the lengthy waits in some areas – we want the Scottish Government to encourage this collaboration, and ensure what works in some areas of Scotland applies to all parts of the country.

“Patients must be diagnosed and treated early if they are to have the best chance of surviving cancer.”

Meanwhile, the percentage of patients waiting more than 12 weeks for a new outpatient appointment has nearly doubled from 14.3 per cent to 26 per cent year-on-year, and there has also been a deterioration in compliance with the Scottish Government's 12 week treatment time guarantee in relation to inpatient surgeries and day case procedures. Only 81.4 per cent of patients were treated on time during the quarter to the end of June this year, compared to 91.3 per cent for the same quarter in 2016.

It comes amid growing demand driven by am ageing population and rising consultant vacancies.

Scottish LibDem health spokesman Alex Cole-Hamilton said the Scottish Government was "now letting patients down on an unprecedented scale".

Labour health spokesman, Anas Sarwar, added: “Our hospitals don’t have enough doctors and nurses and patients are losing out. This cannot go on."

The Scottish Government announced £50 million of funding earlier this year to help cut waiting times and support the roll out of a less invasive test for bowel cancer, which is expected to reduce the number of referrals for colonoscopies by around 7,500 annually.

Yesterday, Health Secretary Shona Robison announced that a new expert group, led by the Chair of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, Professor Derek Bell, and Paula Hawkins, the chief executive of NHS Fife, would help health boards tackle waiting times for elective procedures and diagnostic tests.

Ms Robison said: “We know that any patient waiting for planned surgery or an outpatient appointment wants to be seen as quickly as possible.

“[This group]will build on our earlier injection of funding to reduce waiting lists, by providing the expert support to transform scheduled care and put the services on a sustainable footing for the future."

Prof Bell said UK-wide financial restrictions have "led to performance problems in emergency and elective acute care". He added: "Extra investment will help, but this alone will not make our care system sustainable, particularly given the significant future growth in the elderly population and the associated diseases and implications."