SCOTTISH Labour leader Anas Sarwar branded the cancer care backlog brought on by the coronavirus pandemic a “national emergency” today, with patients travelling hundreds of miles for treatment.

Figures released on Tuesday by Public Health Scotland (PHS) show that 485 people waited more than two months to start cancer treatment after receiving an urgent referral in the last quarter of 2020.

Mr Sarwar also said pointed out that figures revealed that up to one in five cases of cancer could have been missed as a result of screening services being halted during the pandemic.

The Labour leader has previously called for plans to be put in place to ramp up screening and treatment services.

He said: “The backlog for cancer treatment in Scotland is now a national emergency.

“There are thousands of missing patients and there needs to be an urgent plan to address this crisis, including rapid diagnostic centres and a catch-up plan for screenings by increasing staff and processing capacity to clear the backlog within a year.”

During Tuesday night’s first leaders’ debate, Mr Sarwar raised the case of 69-year-old Mary Hudson, whose ovarian cancer returned earlier this year.

He said that Ms Hudson was told Glasgow Royal Infirmary was only allowing operations for first occurrences of the disease — forcing her to travel to London to receive another procedure.

Mr Sarwar said this was a “scandal,” adding: “We have no idea how many other families are going through similar trauma.”

The SNP’s Jeane Freeman said that the government prioritised cancer care as part of the coronavirus recovery, and the SNP, “unlike Labour,” was already taking action with a cancer recovery plan worth £114.5million.