Hansard

I, too, thank Willie Coffey for bringing this debate to the chamber. On behalf of Scottish Labour, I welcome the recognition of pancreatic cancer awareness month and world pancreatic cancer day, which will be marked tomorrow. It is critical that we take time to mark those events and I wish everyone who is involved all the best for the work that will be carried out tomorrow and in the rest of the month.

As other members have said, raising awareness of illnesses such as pancreatic cancer is pivotal to ensuring early diagnosis and improving the prognosis. Like Miles Briggs, I have spoken in our previous debates on the subject since I was elected, and I always consider it important to highlight the key symptoms.

We know that the problem is that people do not recognise the key symptoms of pancreatic cancer. Those include abdominal or back pain or discomfort, unexplained weight loss or loss of appetite, yellowing of the skin or eyes or itchy skin, a change in bowel habits, nausea or vomiting, and indigestion that does not respond to treatment. Knowing those symptoms and seeking medical advice, even as a precaution, can be life saving or life prolonging, and it is key that we continue to support the public awareness campaigns on that, as all members have said. According to Pancreatic Cancer UK, only 8 per cent of people can name the most common symptoms of pancreatic cancer, which is far too low. We know that, so, to save and prolong lives, we must increase the numbers significantly.

I thank the various organisations that contacted me ahead of today’s debate, along with the members of the public whose family members have been affected who also contacted me. Such briefings are always important and highlight the sheer scale of the challenge that we face given the destructive nature of pancreatic cancer. We always appreciate the work that has gone into putting together such briefings for us.

Other members have mentioned the importance of research. We know from research that pancreatic cancer is the deadliest common cancer. More than half of people die within three months of diagnosis, and seven in 10 people with pancreatic cancer never receive any treatment, often because of late diagnosis. This is a significant challenge that demands immediate response, as others have said. That is why I give my full support to Pancreatic Cancer UK’s “Don’t write me off” campaign, which sets out three priorities, which are to make diagnosis, treatment and care faster, fairer and funded. As I noted, many pancreatic cancer sufferers will not receive treatment, so we need that diagnosis and treatment to be much faster.

As I often do in the chamber, I will talk a little about inequalities that exist among people seeking support and treatment. The socioeconomic health inequalities that create deep, divisive and damaging inequalities in our communities also matter in these circumstances. We need to support people to speak to their general practitioner or a local nurse whenever they can. Even if that is just a precaution, it is always worth it.

As has been said, we need to address funding to provide support for patients. The motion talks about the fact that we need funding for services. The national health service is struggling at times, particularly with long waiting times, slow diagnosis and a lack of readily available treatment. We must address that and look at the funding sources. As I think everybody would agree, the NHS is our proudest possession—it is certainly my party’s proudest creation. We would be letting people down if we were not honest about the things that we need to do.

I thank everyone in the public gallery and all the members who have spoken.