Chamber and committees

I recognise that the SNP Government is committed to fully funding our NHS to ensure that patients receive the best possible care. Given the challenges that have been described, will the cabinet secretary outline how NHS Dumfries and Galloway in particular will continue to benefit from record funding—notably that in the 2025-26 Scottish budget?

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.

Good morning. Before I start delving into programme budgeting and marginal analysis—PBMA—in healthcare, can you tell us what that is?

Okay. I forgot to mention that I am a registered nurse and a former employee of NHS Dumfries and Galloway. I have been a nurse for probably about 40 years.

I have type 1 diabetes and use an insulin pump. Part of the reason for investing in better blood glucose control using diabetes technology would be to reduce complications that lead to dialysis and eye problems that need laser treatment, which then lead to other complications. Can PBMA be used to show that, although insulin pumps and other devices will cost money, investing in them will reduce spend on potential complications?

No health board has successfully implemented or used it. You mentioned integration joint boards. In Dumfries and Galloway, we have health and social care partnerships, one health board and one local authority. Having only one health board and one local authority might make it easier for PBMA to work there.

Our papers talk about how the Scottish Government piloted the use of PBMA in 2012. That is a while ago. Does the Scottish Government continue to use PBMA in, for example, health and social care?

Okay. Thanks. I will stop there for now.

I welcome the minister’s continued commitment to delivering initiatives that save lives, such as the Thistle centre in Glasgow, the delivery of naloxone kits and the new drug-checking facilities. I note that the minister will meet the UK Government and representatives of other devolved nations to discuss drug-checking facilities. Will she provide an update on how that is progressing and what further action we need to see from the UK Government to instil some pace?

I have loads of questions, some of which are based on what the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee discussed yesterday.

I will direct my first question to Dr Gillian Purdon. The population health framework talks about health-harming products, and we know that the framework is supposed to align with the good food nation plan. Health-harming products include tobacco, vapes, alcohol and gambling, but health-harming foods are not mentioned. Many people will know that I have been following the work of Henry Dimbleby, Chris van Tulleken, Tim Spector and now Dr Stuart Gillespie on ultra-processed foods and ultra-high-processed foods. I am curious to know why ultra-high-processed foods are not included in the population health framework.

I have a wee supplementary question on data, and I also have a question for Gillian Purdon.

Yesterday, the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee took evidence on the good food nation plan from the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands. We are having a discussion about it in this committee today, and the good food nation plan is about local government as well.

I was interested in what the cabinet secretary said about data evolving. We might not know what data we need to collect, and it is complex, so we need to reach out to the people who are part of analysing what information we will need.

Lisa Hislop-Smith, what needs to happen on the ground to engage with food producers—who are our farmers, and even the small market gardeners—to acknowledge their contribution to the good food nation plan? Does there need to be more direct on-the-ground engagement? That goes back to what Adam Forrest said about the people on the ground being the food producers.