CHILDREN and teenagers with cancer are to be treated within a fortnight under a new plan to improve their care in Scotland.

In what is considered a UK first, doctors have drawn up their own waiting times targets to ensure young cancer patients do not have to wait too long north of the border.

The goals have been set amid concern some teenagers may get stuck in queues of adult patients waiting for scans and diagnostic tests.

Other standards to ensure young cancer patients have the same opportunities for specialist care and access to the latest treatment trials across Scotland are also being pursued.

Every year around 150 children up to the age of 15 and 180 young adults aged 16 to 25 are diagnosed with cancer in Scotland. While children are largely treated in specialist paediatric centres in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen, younger adults can be seen in more than 20 different adult hospitals nationwide.

Professor Hamish Wallace, national clinical director for Scotland's Managed Service Network for Children and Young People with Cancer, said: "I think they are looked after in too many different hospitals at the moment. They are not always being offered age appropriate care or an age appropriate environment.

"I think we need to get more into clinical trials. I think there is room for improvement. I am absolutely determined that we are going to improve the lot of these young people."

Under the new targets patients should be diagnosed within three weeks of their hospital referral and start treatment within a fortnight. These times are quicker than the Scottish Government's official adult cancer treatment time goals. Moving fast reduces the risk of the patient becoming more unwell and the cancer spreading.

Mr Wallace said he believed services were ensuring young cancer patients were seen quickly, but the targets would help verify the situation.

He said: "Do teenagers and young adults have to battle to get their scans done, competing with the main body of the hospital which is adults? We will find out if there are any delays."

Already a multi-disciplinary team of experts can discuss the care of those in their late teens and early 20s being treated for cancer in regional hospitals.

Mr Wallace urged consultants seeing these patients around the country to collaborate with this team and offer patients the opportunity to be seen in teenage cancer centres.

Survival rates of childhood cancers, such as leukaemia and Hodgkin lymphoma, have improved. Around 80 per cent of paediatric patients are alive five years after diagnosis and 70 per cent survive long term. But, treatment can have lifelong repercussions including heart problems and fertility issues. Ensuring there is a summary of the treatment patients have received and a plan for their ongoing care is also one of the new standards.

A form of passport which patients themselves can access on smart phones detailing their treatment plan, scans, blood test results and appointment reminders is to be developed. Research involving 61 patients found universal support for the idea and scant concern about the security of the information.

The three-year cancer plan for children and young people in Scotland is the second in a series. The first was launched in 2012.

Dr Catherine Calderwood, Chief Medical Officer for Scotland, said: “I am sure that everyone involved in providing these services will find the second national cancer plan for children and young people both stimulating and informative. I am confident that the spirit of working together which the plan articulates can only grow in strength as we work to improve the lives of Scotland’s children and young people who face a diagnosis of cancer.”

Health Secretary Shona Robison said: “A cancer diagnosis in a child is devastating news for that child and their family, and we are absolutely committed to ensuring that children and young people with cancer receive the best possible treatment and support."

Siobhan Dunn, Chief Executive at Teenage Cancer Trust, said: “Scotland is leading the way in having a cancer plan for young people and this is a real opportunity for us to all work together to drive improvements for the 210 13-24 year olds who are diagnosed across the country each year." 

POLLY Melville had just started a new job training as a nursery nurse - but had to nip out for her cancer check-up.

The 17-year-old had twice battled Hodgkin lymphoma and is regularly monitored for any signs of relapse.

When she left the nursery for her appointment last week, she told them: "I'll be one hour tops."

But after 60 minutes in a busy waiting room there was still no sign she would be called.

Polly said: "I was the youngest there by about 50 years. They were all looking at me as if I was there to be with my mum - but she was there to be with me. It was not very enjoyable."

In the end she approached the reception desk to tell them she had to leave, apologising: "I am so sorry. I have just started a new job. I cannot be this late."

As a teenage cancer patient Polly, who was first diagnosed aged 14, says it is difficult - she found herself sitting with five-year-olds in waiting rooms in Glasgow and 75-year-olds in the main hospital in Inverness near her home.

But, while her Highland doctor did ring her the day after she missed her appointment, she is now hoping her care will be transferred back to the specialist services for young cancer patients in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Polly, from Tain, said there have been some very low times but added: "I am thankful to everyone for what they have done for me. The main thing is getting you better. I hope that it never comes back."