'It is the not knowing which is the worst part'

Concerns have been raised over cancers being missed because of a lack of hospital diagnostic tests during the coronavirus pandemic.

Billy Hughes was waiting for an endoscopy in Hairmyres hospital, East Kilbride on 2 April when the procedure was cancelled and he was sent home.

The 57-year-old is now a "shadow of the man he used to be" according to his wife Sharon.

The NHS has insisted it is open to all and "not just for Covid patients".

There has been a 72% reduction in urgent suspected cancer referrals by doctors during lockdown and Cancer Research UK has called for an urgent Covid-19 testing programme for NHS staff and patients to avoid "lives needlessly lost to cancer during this time".

Mr Hughes has been feeling ill since January and was admitted to hospital on 24 March where a scan later picked up "abnormalities" in his stomach and he was prepared for a endoscopy, which was cancelled at the last minute.

"He was sitting waiting for the porter to take him when it got cancelled," explained Mrs Hughes.

"We need an endoscopy to see what the abnormalities are. It could be tumours, it could be cancers - we just want to know what we are dealing with.

"It is the not knowing which is the worst part. We're in limbo, the doctors discharged him and said he would be safer at home until such time they could do an endoscopy."

Mrs Hughes, who told BBC Scotland she has emailed Nicola Sturgeon twice about the issue, is nursing her husband at their East Kilbride home with Mr Hughes "living on pain killers and the weight falling off him every day".

She added: "People are still getting ill, we need to balance it up, but don't tell me the hospitals are open when I can't get a procedure for my husband and I am watching him fade away every day."

Mrs Hughes has tried to see if she could get the endoscopy carried out in a private clinic or hospital but that is not possible at this time, she said.

Marion O'Neill, Cancer Research UK's head of external affairs in Scotland, said: "It's vital for patient survival that tests for cancer are carried out safely and in good time.

"The Scottish government must introduce a Covid-19 testing programme for patients and healthcare staff.

"This will ensure that patients can access diagnostic tests for cancer, as well as on-going treatment, in a safe environment that is relatively free from Covid-19.

"With the number of suspected cancer cases being left unseen stacking up, plans are urgently needed for how an already struggling NHS system will get through these as swiftly as possible."

There has been a overall drop in the number of people seeking help from the health service since the start of the pandemic, with a 54% drop in accident and emergency departments attendance alone.

Asked about Mr Hughes on Reporting Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon said she would be happy to looking into the 57-year-old's case and raise it with his local health board.

She added: "We do want people to come forward if they have things they are worried about, the NHS is open for that.

"Urgent, lifesaving treatment is going ahead but there will be some circumstances, and this will be clinically driven, where the judgement will be that the risks of going ahead and coming into contact with people, potentially getting coronavirus, are greater than delaying that for a little bit of time."