In Scotland, just over 29 per cent of cancer patients received chemotherapy, compared to 39 per cent of Norwegian patients, 38.5 per cent in the Canadian provinces included in the research, and 42 per cent in New South Wales and Victoria. The average wait for chemotherapy in Scotland was 65 days – compared to 58 in Wales and 48 in England. Only Saskatchewan, with an average wait of 74 days, had a worse record than Scotland out of the areas studied.

Scottish Conservative health spokesperson Dr Sandesh Gulhane said the “truly horrendous” findings should be “a source of shame for the SNP Government”. Given how many sources of shame over the state of the NHS there have been recently, only the most naive optimist would expect this latest one to persuade the Scottish Government that radical reform is needed if the health service is to recover its previous standing in the world.