Question reference: S6W-05261
- Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 23 December 2021
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Current status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 10 January 2022
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether there is a need for clearer and more transparent data-sharing in order to improve blood cancer diagnosis.
Answer
The Scottish Government’s commitment to the early diagnosis of cancer is reflected in our £44m Detect Cancer Early (DCE) Programme, which adopts a whole-systems approach to diagnosing and treating cancer as early as possible – ranging from screening and public awareness campaigns to diagnostics and data. The NHS Recovery Plan, published August 2021, commits an additional £20m for the Programme.
In terms of data, Scotland already publishes a range of quality data-sets which include blood cancers. Some examples of these are our quarterly published Cancer Waiting Times data which includes lymphomas, our annually published Cancer Mortality data which has blood and lymphatic cancers included, and our annually published Cancer Survival stats which includes blood cancers.
In addition to this, the National Cancer Data Group is an established advisory group containing relevant clinicians and stakeholders, and meets regularly in order to seek improvements in data collection to, in turn, improve cancer outcomes in Scotland.
Our officials are currently in discussion with the Blood Cancer Alliance to arrange a meeting early this year, to explore how further improved outcomes for patients diagnosed with blood cancers can be achieved.