Hansard

I thank Clare Adamson not only for securing the debate and for securing cross-party support on the motion, but for being a champion and for speaking so movingly about the issue. I welcome the people in the gallery—it is nice to see a splash of purple across Parliament. I also thank Clare Adamson for the ribbon and badge that were handed to me just a few minutes before the debate started.

It is terrifying when we stop to read the statistics and briefings from Pancreatic Cancer UK, Macmillan Cancer Support, Cancer Research UK and Pancreatic Cancer Scotland: this could be a very bleak and negative debate. There is a cancer emergency with pancreatic cancer. We know that it is tough to diagnose, tough to treat and tough to survive. It must be simply terrifying to receive, or to be the loved one of a person who has received, that diagnosis.

I represent Central Scotland, so in reading about the national picture, I was troubled to learn that there is a higher incidence of pancreatic cancer in Lanarkshire. I know that Clare Adamson will be concerned about that, too. I would like to understand the reasons for that a bit better.

We always need to look at the human stories behind the statistics. Today, I picked up one of my local newspapers, the East Kilbride News, in which there was a story about Kenny Forbes, who is a local man who has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. His story is a hopeful and positive one. He described himself as

“one of the lucky ones”,

which we would not expect someone with pancreatic cancer to say. It has been possible to treat his cancer and, according to his story, he has made a full recovery and is back at work as an electrician. That story gives us hope.

However, I am also mindful that it is round about the anniversary of the death of my neighbour, who sadly died of pancreatic cancer this time last year. He was a neighbour whom I would often meet in the driveway when he was coming home from work, and he would talk about his family. It is very sad that he was diagnosed and, within a couple of months, lost his life.

We know that the cancer is preventable, so we have a big job to do in working together across Parliament. Hearing Kenny Forbes’s story can give us hope.

I was not aware of the Begley family story: I thank Clare Adamson for shining a light on it. Although, sadly, William Begley passed away, Lynda Murray and the family have been tenacious in their campaigning, which keeps us here in Parliament focused.

There are some positives. Clare Adamson talked about the quality performance indicator with which there has been some success. However, I am quite concerned that there has been a bit of a rollback in progress and that the latest figures show that the target was met only in Lanarkshire. Perhaps in her closing remarks, the minister will touch on the QPI, the dip in performance and what we can do to bring it back up again.

We cannot repeat enough that we are facing a cancer emergency with pancreatic cancer. Faster treatment is vital to increasing people’s chance of survival, and a lot of good suggestions have been made by campaigners, which Miles Briggs touched on. There is a focus on the opportunity that we have with the Beatson west of Scotland cancer centre—the centre of excellence. We have high expectations of its young researchers—no pressure—so we have to make sure that they are properly resourced.

Bill Kidd rightly mentioned the wonderful fundraising that goes on in communities by families and people who have lived experience of pancreatic cancer, but we cannot leave that burden just to charities and people with that generosity of spirit. We have to make sure that we do all that we can to prevent ill health, and to help people to live healthier lives, but when people get a diagnosis, we want them to have hope that they can survive and live well after cancer.