Hansard

I, too, thank Clare Adamson for securing this evening’s important debate to mark pancreatic cancer awareness month. I also welcome the visitors to the gallery—as Monica Lennon said, they have provided a lovely splash of purple in the chamber. In addition, I thank members across the chamber for their measured and considered contributions. They have highlighted the importance of the work of the charities concerned and how vital research is in finding cures and treatments for the disease. There have been many mentions of the Beatson centre in Glasgow and the research that it does.

My family, too, has been affected by this terrible disease, and I would like to thank Pancreatic Cancer UK and Pancreatic Cancer Scotland for the vitally important work that they do to support people who are affected by pancreatic cancer and their families and loved ones. I am particularly proud of the work by my constituent Fiona Brown of Pancreatic Cancer Scotland, who is incredibly passionate about raising awareness of the disease. As we all know, November is pancreatic cancer awareness month, and I know that both organisations have been hard at work. Yesterday’s parliamentary reception, which was attended by my colleague Joe FitzPatrick, was a great success, and I know that he was impressed by what he heard.

Another such event is the tour of the pancan van, which has been driving the length and breadth of Scotland to raise awareness of the risks and symptoms of pancreatic cancer. Today, that purple van was on the Royal Mile, bringing awareness right to our doorstep. As other members have said, public buildings across Scotland have been bathed in purple light in tribute to those who are affected by the disease. I am happy to say that the Scottish Government contributed to that awareness raising activity by lighting up St Andrew’s house and Victoria Quay in purple last Thursday.

The Scottish Government recognises the devastating impact of all cancers, including pancreatic cancer, on individuals and their family and friends. However, it is also right that we recognise where progress has been made. Over the past 10 years, the overall age-adjusted cancer mortality rate in Scotland has reduced by 10 per cent. That is a great improvement, and it is testament to the amazing efforts of all the workers in the NHS and the third sector.

Patients and their families lie at the heart of all our efforts to tackle cancer, because it is the human story behind the statistics that matters most. It is for that reason that I want to mention Lynda Murray, whose father, William Begley, passed away from pancreatic cancer. I believe that she is in the gallery, along with my constituent Fiona and others who have been affected by this terrible disease. Lynda kindly developed a comprehensive and detailed report that outlined her father’s pancreatic cancer journey, and she has continued to engage with Scottish Government ministers and officials to improve care for those who are affected by pancreatic cancer.

There are certainly many lessons for all of us delivering cancer services in Scotland, not least about putting to the forefront the patient voice and the wishes of patients and their family members and loved ones.

In March 2016, the Scottish Government unveiled its ambitious and wide-ranging cancer strategy “Beating Cancer: Ambition and Action” to serve as a blueprint for the future of cancer services in Scotland. Over the coming years, the cancer strategy will deliver £100 million of investment to improve the prevention, detection, diagnosis, treatment and aftercare for all those affected by cancer. After two full years of the strategy, a total of £39 million of investment has been made, and nearly one third of the actions outlined in the strategy have been completed.

The Scottish Government has also undertaken a range of actions to tackle known cancer risk factors in the areas of diet and obesity, excessive alcohol consumption and smoking, some of which have been highlighted this evening. Supporting our ambitions to improve cancer services for all those affected is the £41 million detect cancer early programme, which over the past six years has increased diagnostic capacity across Scotland and worked to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of cancer.

However, although we always seek to encourage early diagnosis wherever possible, we recognise that that is particularly challenging in the case of pancreatic cancer, the symptoms of which can often be difficult to diagnose. In addition to the detect cancer early programme, we are updating the Scottish referral guidelines for suspected cancer, which are issued to general practitioners to help them recognise cancer symptoms and which, including the specific section on pancreatic cancer, are being revised with a view to their being published next year.

We are also working to address waiting times. In May, the ministerial cancer performance delivery group published its report, and its recommendations for improving waiting times for the diagnosis and treatment of people in Scotland who have cancer will be taken forward with advice from an implementation group. I am happy to record that, through their membership of the Scottish cancer coalition, third sector organisations such as Pancreatic Cancer UK and Pancreatic Cancer Scotland will have the opportunity to feed into the group’s work.

We know that there is increasing pressure on the imaging services that are so critical to the diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of cancers, particularly pancreatic cancer. That is why we are investing in more radiology training places and radiology consultants and encouraging more recruitment into radiology vacancies across Scotland.

The Scottish Government also recognises that further research is required on pancreatic cancer. As a result, we have invested £650,000 in supporting the precision panc study, which aims to match patients to the most appropriate clinical trials through genetic analysis of their tumours. Along with an additional £10 million investment from Cancer Research UK, the study will help to improve our understanding of pancreatic cancer and will hopefully lead to more effective treatments. With regard to Miles Briggs’s point about protecting time for research, I would certainly welcome a letter—or a letter being sent to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport—on that matter.

As we have heard, Pancreatic Cancer UK has issued a call to action through its faster treatment campaign, and Scottish Government officials will be meeting the organisation over the coming months to discuss what actions can be taken to support that. The Scottish Government has also written to the three regional cancer networks in Scotland in relation to the publication of their clinical management guidelines and pathways for pancreatic cancer to provide patients and carers with greater understanding of the clinical decision-making processes.

As I have noted, we have seen significant progress in relation to cancer, but despite everything that we have achieved, we know that we must keep looking at what we can do better and how we should transform care and equip ourselves to deliver even better health and social care services in the future. The actions outlined in the cancer strategy will assist with that; however, we will also be required to move forward together and, in that respect, it was encouraging that we had such a collaborative and cohesive debate.

We must work with our dedicated NHS professionals and researchers, but just as important, we need to work with and listen to those people who live with cancer and their carers as well as voluntary groups such as Pancreatic Cancer UK and Pancreatic Cancer Scotland. Once again, I thank them for the work that they do.