Current status: Answered by Alex Neil on 1 October 2014
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will implement Prostate Cancer UK’s call to (a) increase (i) GP and (ii) patient awareness of the Prostate Cancer Risk Management Programme and (b) develop national guidelines on the management of each of the possible life-changing side effects of prostate cancer treatment, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.
A Prostate Cancer Risk Management Programme information pack was issued to GPs across NHS Scotland, urologists and histopathologists working in Scottish hospitals, and also those working in Scottish prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing laboratories in 2009. This was subsequently tailored to suit a Scottish audience and is available on the Scottish Government website at:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Health/Services/Cancer/Risk-Management
The pack provides guidance to medical practitioners on the information and help that should be provided to patients before PSA testing is undertaken, and the support that may be required by men as they deal with the consequences of the PSA test and any resulting diagnosis.
In order to help men decide whether or not to take the test, an information sheet has been provided to give balanced information about the advantages and disadvantages of doing so. This can be found at:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/0039/00398270.pdf
It is for the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network to determine priorities for development of Scottish national clinical guidelines. We also expect clinicians to take account of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Guideline No. 175 (January 2014) on Diagnosis and Treatment of Prostate Cancer Guideline No. 175 (January 2014) on Diagnosis and Treatment of Prostate Cancer, which includes advice on managing patients with serious complications of treatment including erectile dysfunction, urinary incontinence and radiation-induced enteropathy.