Question reference: S6W-00677
- Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 14 June 2021
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Current status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 13 July 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to increase the prescription rates of pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy for inoperable pancreatic cancer patients who are not being treated in specialist centres.
Answer
There are some circumstances where there are legitimate reasons for not prescribing pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy, such as palliative patients or due to patient’s cultural preference. However, we understand more can be done around education and monitoring to ensure our clinicians are aware of the treatment.
As part of The Scottish Governments National Cancer Recovery Plan , published in December 2020, funding has been made available to ensure equitable access to treatments across the whole of Scotland.
This includes our funded work being led by The Scottish HepatoPancreatoBiliary Network which will be directly addressing guidance on the use of pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy.