Hansard

I thank Emma Harper for bringing this important debate to the chamber. I also take a moment to thank Christina McKelvie and note the incredible work that she, too, did for breast cancer awareness. I thank the women from Breast Cancer Now and the Make 2nds Count campaign who took time to speak with us today, many of whom are in the public gallery.

In my region of Glasgow, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has one of the highest rates of cancer incidence in Scotland, so this matter is deeply personal for my constituents. Secondary breast cancer is one of the leading causes of death among women under 50 in the United Kingdom. It affects around 4,000 people in Scotland, but gaps in data collection mean that we do not yet have the full picture. Without that data, people with incurable secondary breast cancer are not properly planned for and are not guaranteed to be able to get the treatment that they require. That is the message that I heard when I spoke to women in the Parliament cafe this afternoon.

I agree whole-heartedly with the women who spoke to us today that improved national data collection is crucial so that we can detect and support people who are living with the condition. I ask the minister to reflect on the importance of that, and on the likelihood of fulfilling the Government commitment on data collection and the importance of doing so by March 2026.

Organisations such as Make 2nds Count, Breast Cancer Now, Maggie’s, Marie Curie and the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre in Glasgow work tirelessly to support women, and some men, who are living with breast cancer, and I put on record my thanks to those organisations. They support patients and families such as two of my constituents who have recently come through their breast cancer journey: a mum and daughter in the same family. Cancer rocks families to the core, as it did that family—it was no different for those two brave women. Its weight puts a strain on families and on their resilience and recovery. For my constituents, that strain was eased hugely by family and friends, and—crucially—as a result of the work of organisations such as those that I mentioned.

Much of that strain was health related, as one would expect, but it was also financial. Attending appointments, taking time off work, spending money on travel to and from healthcare and support centres and lower take-home pay as a result of time off work all affected my constituents’ finances, and still do. That is why I believe that, in addition to ensuring that social security supports people, employers must be supported to ensure that their processes, policies and sick-pay schemes are appropriate for someone with a terminal diagnosis.

When someone is living with cancer, tight finances affect not just day-to-day life—sadly, all too often, they affect treatment choices, too. The women I spoke to today told me that there are drugs available on the NHS for free in England that they cannot access in Scotland. Those drugs target cells and can improve outcomes for women, yet the Scottish Medicines Consortium has rejected them for use on the NHS here, leaving a situation in which only women with money can afford to access them. Those drugs are used elsewhere, and women are rightly wondering, “Why not here?” I ask the minister whether she can set out why that is the case and what she might do to try to ensure that women in Scotland can access the same life-changing therapy as women elsewhere.