Hansard

I am delighted to bring this members’ business debate to the chamber today in recognition of world cancer day 2022, which is on 4 February. I encourage colleagues to wear their Cancer Research UK unity wristbands throughout the week, especially while in the chamber, to ensure that we raise awareness of cancer as much as we can.

I want to start by thanking Cancer Research UK for suggesting the motion and by congratulating the organisation on reaching its 20th anniversary this year. Its work over that period has been truly life changing for many people, and it has been at the front line of the fight against cancer.

I also want to thank Miles Briggs, who is the co-convener of the cross-party group on cancer, alongside me, and who does tremendous work in helping to raise awareness and campaign for improvements to services.

I would genuinely be surprised if there is anyone in this chamber who has not been affected by cancer in some way, through losing a loved one, supporting a friend or family member as they receive treatment or having treatment themselves.

The importance of raising awareness of all types of cancer, as well as ensuring that everyone knows the steps that we can take to avoid and identify it, cannot be stressed enough.

We must celebrate the fact that great progress in research has been made. Survival rates have doubled in the past 40 years, and it is now the case that one in two people will survive their cancer for at least 10 years or more. However, there is always room for improvement in the fight against cancer, and that is why the theme of this year’s world cancer day is “close the care gap”. It is about understanding and recognising inequality in cancer care.

Achieving equality in cancer care means confronting the many differences in care and survival rates across Scotland, and, indeed, across the United Kingdom. It will come as no surprise to any of us that the most deprived areas of our country have far worse outcomes of cancer care and far worse survival rates than are found in the most affluent areas. Indeed, research confirms that areas with more deprivation have a higher prevalence of cancer risk factors. Many people in those communities are less aware of symptoms of cancer and are less likely to participate in screening programmes, and, shamefully, they report coming across many more barriers when trying to seek help and care.

Scotland’s deprivation gap for cancer sits at 32 per cent, with mortality rates for all cancers being 74 per cent higher in the most deprived areas than in the least deprived areas. Those statistics are not new, but they should shock us all into urgent and robust action. There is simply no justification for a country that is as wealthy as Scotland to continue to have such deep health inequalities.

Cancer is still the leading cause of death in Scotland, with 34,000 people being diagnosed every year. I know that organisations such as Macmillan Cancer Support, which provides valuable services in my community, are hugely concerned that the delays in diagnosis due to pauses in the screening programme during the pandemic will soon lead to a sharp rise in the number of cases and their seriousness. Indeed, there are reports of people presenting at accident and emergency departments with stage 4 cancers that have simply not been picked up before.

The people in the Scottish national health service’s cancer workforce do an incredible job, but staff and services have not been given the support that they need to keep up with the growing demand. Far too many people in Scotland are waiting far too long to receive a cancer diagnosis and treatment. Let me be absolutely clear: I do not think that the fault for that lies in any way with the hard-working staff.

Only 83 per cent of patients on an urgent referral due to a suspicion of cancer started treatment within 62 days. The 95 per cent target that was set by the Scottish Government has not been met for a decade, so we need to do things much better.

Macmillan Cancer Support and others are clear that, while the pandemic has undoubtedly added to the backlog in cancer waiting times, those services were already struggling to cope long before Covid-19 hit. Therefore, the Scottish Government needs to prioritise the delivery of the action plan for cancer services and make sure that the long-awaited health and social care workforce strategy addresses the urgent issue of workforce capacity, including by increasing the number of cancer specialist nurses. Cancer Research UK has said that there is genuine concern that, if action is not taken, we could see survival rates go backwards for the very first time.

I want to briefly mention the Blood Cancer Alliance, which is a coalition of 15 blood cancer charities from across the UK. I was surprised to find out that blood cancer is the UK’s third biggest cancer killer, causing more than 15,000 deaths a year, and the UK’s fifth most prevalent cancer, with 40,000 new diagnoses every year. Despite that, from awareness to diagnosis to information to care and support, blood cancer patients are less likely to have their needs fully met than patients with the four most common cancers: breast, colorectal, lung and prostate.

The number of blood cancer patients who had to see their general practitioners five or more times before being referred for specialist treatment is nearly double that of patients with other cancers in Scotland. The disparity between patients’ experience of blood cancer diagnosis and diagnosis of other common cancers needs to be addressed urgently in order to improve blood cancer outcomes and to provide equity of patient treatment across the whole of the cancer sector. I hope that the Scottish Government will recognise that and ensure that there is a greater focus on blood cancers in the future, alongside all the others.

Finally, I want to touch on the impact that a cancer diagnosis can have on children, young people and their families. Every year in Scotland, around 320 children and young people are diagnosed with cancer. Studies have found that young people in Scotland and their families face an average round trip of around 68 miles to access treatment. Young people in remote and rural communities in Scotland can face a journey of more than 400 miles, which is by far the longest in the UK.

Research by Young Lives vs Cancer found that the expenses associated with a cancer diagnosis, especially in relation to travel, food and energy bills, cost families around £600 a month extra during their child’s cancer treatment, and that 61 per cent of parents had accumulated some form of debt. Some 42 per cent of parents had stopped working because of their child’s cancer. That is also borne out by analysis by Macmillan Cancer Support that shows that 87 per cent of people with cancer experience a negative financial impact right from the point of their diagnosis. Help is there from Macmillan. I will quote its helpline number and encourage people who are affected to phone it: 0808 808 0000.

I also very much welcome the Scottish Government’s young patients family fund. I hope that it will be reviewed and that its cover will be expanded to cross-national travel and to families of young people up to the age of 24.

This world cancer day, let us resolve not to go backwards. We need an ambitious catch-up plan. We need adequately resourced services. We need enough cancer professionals to meet demand. We need to get screening programmes back on track—and yes, I include in that breast cancer screening for women over 70. Above all, we need a laser-like focus on overcoming the barriers that are caused by disadvantage in order to close the gap in cancer care and, by doing so, close the gap in outcomes.