Question reference: S6W-01706
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 21 July 2021
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Current status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 August 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been diagnosed with secondary breast cancer in each of the last five years, also broken down by NHS board.
Answer
The Scottish Cancer Registry, hosted by Public Health Scotland, collects information on registrations for primary cancers. It does not hold information on secondary cancers.
There is work ongoing to develop systems for the routine collection of secondary cancer data, including secondary breast cancer. However, validation of these systems would require clinical time that is being focussed on seeing patients as we continue to prioritise cancer in the NHS. Any national system for the routine collection of secondary breast cancer would take several years to produce the first tranche of data. The Scottish Government’s National Cancer Plan has committed up to £114.5m until March 2023 which will drive a range of improvements across all cancer services.