Hansard

First, I thank Stuart McMillan for giving us the opportunity to discuss bladder cancer. Mr McMillan has highlighted the topic very well, and I thank him for his insight and information.

With more than 1,500 cases of bladder cancer across Scotland every year, it is a health issue that impacts on every corner of Scotland, including people in my South Scotland region. I am pleased that we can reach out to the wider public and raise awareness today of the impact of bladder cancer. Reaching people is crucial for early detection. As with other health conditions, as Stuart McMillan highlighted, the earlier that symptoms are reported and diagnosis takes place, the better the chances for treatment to be effective, and the better the prognosis for patients.

The current cancer strategy adopted by the Scottish Government puts early diagnosis and treatment at its heart. I know that, in turn, the health professionals across our NHS feel the same. We should equip health professionals, in particular those in primary care settings, with the training and support that enables them to work with patients in identifying symptoms early and, if a diagnosis is made, enable expedited access to the cancer care pathways.

As I said, however, ensuring that the wider public knows what to look for to help the professionals make a diagnosis is crucial. This has been highlighted, but it is worth repeating: the earliest, and often the first, symptom of bladder cancer is blood in the urine, or haematuria. Blood in the urine can change the colour of the urine to pink, red or brown, so that is the first sign to focus on and raise awareness of.

Other early symptoms can include changes in urination habits such as frequent or sudden urges to urinate, or pain or a burning sensation when urinating. Pelvic or back pain and frequent urinary tract infections may also occur. I know that our NHS works closely with external groups such as Fight Bladder Cancer to raise awareness in the wider community, and I urge NHS boards across the country to continue and elevate that work to improve the wider public’s awareness of bladder cancer and its symptoms.

Anyone who is watching the debate should spend a few minutes on the Fight Bladder Cancer website, reading the information for themselves and even sharing the short video on the social media networks; I shared it on mine earlier today, ahead of the debate.

I was a nurse before I entered the Parliament, and I saw at first hand the toll that cancer takes on those who are living with it and on the families around them. Over the years, we have seen how diagnosis and treatment have improved as the medical technology has advanced, but too many lives are still cut short or made harder through cancer that cannot be treated fully.

I pay tribute to the amazing staff across the NHS, including in NHS Dumfries and Galloway, who are helping to tackle bladder cancer. It can be harder to operate services in a more rural setting, with all the challenges that that presents, but I know from my own experience, and from the experience of my constituents across D and G, that staff work tirelessly to support their patients.

I make one small request of the Scottish Government: to review the current arrangements that place Dumfries and Galloway in the South East Scotland Cancer Network. Our transport and other links connect to Strathclyde rather than the Lothians—I have raised that issue on many occasions on behalf of constituents. There may be good reasons for that decision, which was taken more than 20 years ago, but the practical effect for people in the south-west is a lot of extra travel to access secondary treatment that could otherwise be provided as part of the West of Scotland Cancer Network.

I commend Stuart McMillan once again for lodging the motion and for giving us the opportunity to speak about the topic this evening.