 Managers wanted wisdom teeth work to be prioritised |
NHS managers have asked for cancer surgery to be postponed so wisdom teeth treatment could be done within waiting targets, a senior surgeon has claimed. Clive Davis, chairman of the BMA's consultants committee, said he knew of such cases - although clinicians had refused to carry out the order.
Health Minister Andy Kerr said such a request was "clearly outrageous".
He said he wanted to know more about the case and praised the surgeons for their stance.
The reports emerged as Mr Kerr unveiled what he described as the "best ever" waiting time figures for Scotland.
 |  They have been asked to defer cancer cases in order to get the patients who need their wisdom teeth out done on time |
The statistics showed that the number of outpatients and inpatients with a guaranteed waiting time of more than 18 weeks was at its lowest ever level.
However, Mr Davis, a senior ear, nose and throat surgeon, told BBC Scotland he was "frustrated" that money was being thrown at tackling waiting times on a short-term basis.
He said the investment could do more good if it was put into long-term solutions.
Mr Davis said he knew of surgeons who had been asked to defer cancer cases so other patients could be treated to meet waiting list targets.
"In maxiofacial surgery they have been asked to defer cancer cases in order to get the patients who need their wisdom teeth out done on time," he said.
| The overall picture is extremely positive, a hard-working NHS delivering for patients |
However, he said the surgeons had told managers that they would have "no part in that".
Mr Kerr said such cases were "clearly outrageous".
"I want to find out more about that, but I am glad to hear that the clinicians had no part in that and I want them to have no part in that.
"This is not what these things are about, this is about clinical decisions being made within a timescale that we have promised patients."
No evidence
He said significant progress had been made in tackling waiting times.
"The overall picture is extremely positive, a hard-working NHS delivering for patients," he added.
In a subsequent statement, the executive said it had no evidence of clinicians being asked defer cancer cases for such reasons.
A spokesman added: "Managers don't have any remit in the clinical part and it is clinicians who decide when patients should be treated."
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