PATIENTS may have to travel to another part of Scotland for cancer surgery as operations resume, Jane Freeman has said.
Freeman said patients will be offered the earliest available appointments, and that this may mean treatment in a different health board area.
And she said the postponement or delay of some cancer treatments was "one of the most difficult aspects of dealing with coronavirus".
Announcing moves to restart cancer surgery, she gave this message to patients: "I want you to be assured you are a priority and our focus is on making sure you are treated as soon and as safely as possible."
The new framework for the recovery of cancer surgery aims to ensure prioritisation of patients is the same across the country and have patients treated as quickly as possible.
Freeman said: "That appointment may be outside their local board area, but that's to be able to allow us to ensure that prioritisation is the same across the country, no matter where patients live, and that they're given the earliest possible opportunity."
The Health Secretary said there may need to be regional or national working between health boards, and she will write to board chief executives to make that clear.
The Scottish Government has also established two groups on cancer, the national cancer recovery group — which will provide "strategic national oversight" of cancer services — and the national cancer treatments group, which will be tasked with ensuring the surgical prioritisation of services.
National Clinical Director Jason Leitch commented: "The coronavirus pandemic has had a significant impact on cancer treatments as many patients have seen operations postponed and we are very aware of the anxiety this is causing.
"This national framework provides clear guidance to ensure patients requiring cancer surgery are treated and cared for in order of clinical priority in the same way across NHS Scotland and builds on the initial clinical guidance that has been issued to health boards since the beginning of this pandemic."
Janice Preston, head of services for Macmillan Cancer Support, commented: "We know how much anxiety has been caused by delays to treatment – it is vital that cancer does not become the forgotten C as we deal with Covid-19 and this is an important step forward."
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