Chamber and committees

Will the First Minister join me in thanking all the staff, volunteers and people in Scotland who have helped make Scotland the first United Kingdom nation to give the extra vaccine dose to half of over-50s? I remind members that I am part of NHS Dumfries and Galloway’s vaccination team.

I welcome the opportunity to speak in this important debate ahead of world pancreatic cancer day tomorrow, 18 November, and I congratulate Clare Adamson, who is sitting right in front of me, on securing it. Clare has done a huge amount of work to raise awareness of pancreatic cancer, and has led the debate each year since 2017.

I am also glad that Miles Briggs and Gillian Martin mentioned former MSP John Scott, and it is good to hear how well he is doing. I thank the clinicians and staff who care for people with pancreatic cancer. I remind members that I am still a nurse, and many of those folks are my former colleagues.

It is worth noting that the Covid pandemic has created many additional challenges for cancer services across Scotland. I agree with Pancreatic Cancer Action Scotland that increasing awareness, encouraging awareness of symptoms earlier, improving pathways to diagnosis, and support, information and care are more important than ever before.

As colleagues across the chamber have stated, pancreatic cancer is currently the deadliest common cancer in Scotland, with statistics indicating that, each year in Scotland, 800 people die within just two weeks of a diagnosis. That is a pretty stark statistic.

The Scottish Government has invested in research, and its current action plan, “Recovery and Redesign: An Action Plan for Cancer Services”, recognises the disease and less survivable cancers. The announcement of £653,000 of funding to support the Scottish HepatoPancreatoBiliary Network’s improving pancreatic cancer pathways project is extremely welcome.

The example of research on which I will focus my comments, and which Gillian Martin also touched on, is the Precision-Panc platform. I spoke about it last year, too. Not all pancreatic cancers are the same. Precision-Panc clinical trials are delivered through the NHS, and match people who have a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer to the clinical trial that is most likely to work for them. Precision medicine is about tailoring treatments to an individual’s cancer. The trials, involving chemotherapy, are based on the genomics of the patient and their tumour.

The Precision-Panc platform brings together expertise from the University of Glasgow, Cancer Research UK, the Beatson Institute for Cancer Research, the CRUK Cambridge institute, the CRUK Manchester institute, the Institute of Cancer Research in London, the University of Oxford and the wider NHS.

There is excellent evidence that participation in clinical trials is associated with better outcomes for patients, so there can be optimism. Those types of clinical trials allow researchers across the country to share expertise and knowledge, as well as to create and share infrastructure, which leads to trials that are quicker to set up and recruit for.

The Precision-Panc platform has a proven track record of delivering positive outcomes and research for pancreatic cancer patients, so there can be optimism, as Clare Adamson has already stated. Development of biomarkers, prognosis and response to treatment have taken place and the platform has successfully identified why pancreatic cancer is resistant to some drug therapies.

Current trials are PRIMUS 001 to 005 as well as the master protocol, some of which are now reaching the clinical report stage, which is scheduled for early next year. I ask the minister to give a commitment that the Scottish Government will continue to support that vital work.

I briefly want to highlight the issues that my constituents across Galloway face when accessing treatment for pancreatic and other cancers. Despite living in one of the most remote and rural parts of Scotland, people who live in Dumfries and Galloway, including in Stranraer and Wigtownshire, do not have access to non-means-tested travel reimbursement to and from treatment appointments. I know that the minister is aware that I have pursued the matter and I ask that she continues to assist me in that work for constituents.

I again congratulate Clare Adamson on introducing the debate and I welcome the on-going work to advance treatment of pancreatic cancer, which means that we can continue to be optimistic.

Will the member take an intervention?

I have a quick supplementary question. There has been a lot of work done on tackling stigma; it is now less stigmatising for a person to say that they have anxiety or a mental health disorder. Has that contributed to the challenges? Has the fact that more people are coming out and saying that they have struggles affected the ability to tackle the issue? The Government has done a lot of work on support for mental health in that way.

Thanks, convener—it is very short.

I believe that cognisance will be taken of an approach dealing with rural areas such as Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish Borders in my South Scotland region. Am I right in thinking that? This can be a yes-or-no answer.

I know that we have asked our NHS and social care staff to work through these unprecedented times, often in unfamiliar settings, and that many have been asked to learn new skills and to work in new roles and in unfamiliar teams, for instance. Are we tracking how staff might be retained so that we can address all of that and not lose staff because of poor mental health?

As a registered nurse, I have been participating in the vaccination programme. Colleagues have told me about how they have been coping or not coping with their mental health. I know that a lot of work has been done, for example through the national wellbeing hub and programmes such as clear your head, to support staff in healthcare and social care. How are we monitoring and evaluating the way in which people engage with those programmes?

We have our winter preparedness plan for 2021-22, and there is a parallel health and social care winter overview. We have in front of us a short list of the challenges this winter: recruitment and retention, which links back to my previous question; nursing staff in care homes; infection control in care homes; staff wellbeing; services and support for unpaid carers; and delayed discharges.

I know that there are challenges, and that there are complexities in how we manage our health and social care system. Could you could give us a brief overview on how the plan will practically assist providers and social care services in meeting the challenges in the sector over the winter?

Will the member take an intervention?

Would Mr Carson like me to pass his message on to my sister?