Meeting of the Parliament 11 November 2025
I thank the member for that intervention, and it is all too real for people to hear that this issue comes down to money. I acknowledge that there are some drugs available in Scotland that are not available elsewhere. Nonetheless, it is still the case that women in Scotland really would like to be able to access some of the life-changing drugs that are available elsewhere, just as women elsewhere might want to access some of the drugs that are available here.
The mum and daughter I mentioned are not alone in experiencing financial hardship as a result of cancer. We heard much about that in last week’s debate, which was led by Paul Sweeney, on the research that found that people are dying in the margins and dying in poverty.
I turn briefly to one other health inequality and risk factor that is associated with breast cancer. It concerns the experience of disabled women, in particular wheelchair users. I put on record my huge thanks to the staff at Gartnavel breast clinic in Glasgow for the way in which they helped me and my chair to navigate a mammogram machine. That was, I have to say, no easy task, and those staff were, and are, exemplary. However, they are working to provide such a good service in a system that could, I think, make some improvements for disabled women.
The current advice from Public Health Scotland on “Breast screening for wheelchair users” says that a mammogram is suitable only if women can
“attend in a manual wheelchair with removable sides ... hold themselves upright ... lean forward to allow their breasts to be positioned in the X-ray machine ... hold their arms clear of their chest and the X-ray machine”
and
“hold the position”.
The guidance goes on to say that
“Mammography is not suitable without all of the above”
and advises women instead
“to remain breast aware and speak to their GP”.
It states that a woman who has symptoms
“should be referred for assessment”.
That is all crucial but, given that the logistics are tricky, I wonder whether there may now be an opportunity for us to reflect on that guidance and see whether we can improve it, and perhaps put in place something more proactive to support women in those circumstances who are experiencing breast cancer.
I will end my remarks on the contribution of research to improving and saving lives. World-class research in precision medicine is taking place right now in Scotland, in Glasgow, and I am incredibly proud of that. It is providing hope to millions of people around the world that one day, breast cancer, including secondary breast cancer, will indeed be curable. The experience is worrying, painful and hard, but it is incumbent on us all to ensure that our constituents who are living with the condition are empowered and have access to world-class care, and can live with the hope that it will, one day, be curable.
17:45