Cole-Hamilton: Cancer patients deserve better than SNP failures 

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has today said that cancer patients “deserve better” than SNP failures, as he challenged the First Minister on cancer waiting times reaching their worst level on record and questioned why Scots are missing out on a recommended screening programme for lung cancer. 

Speaking in the Scottish Parliament, Mr Cole-Hamilton said:

“It comes down to this: if cancer comes for you, you deserve to know that you have the best possible chance of survival. But under this SNP government, that just isn’t happening.  

“Even if you haven’t had cancer, you will know somebody who has.

“But now, for patients referred with an urgent suspicion of cancer, treatment times for them are worse than at any point on record.

“When this potentially lethal disease turns your world upside down, the last thing you need is a long wait for life-saving care.

“So can I ask the First Minister, don’t these people deserve better?”

Replying to the First Minister, Mr Cole-Hamilton went on to say:

“His regret won’t save lives.

“In Scotland, more people die of lung cancer than any other form of the disease. It kills 4,000 Scots every year. If you come from a poorer background, your chances are far worse.

“Three years ago, the UK National Screening Committee recommended the whole UK introduce lung cancer screening to help prevent it or to catch it early.

“It would be targeted at those who are at the highest risk, people aged between 55 and 74, who smoke or who used to smoke.

“And experts have called it a ‘game changer’.

“Survival rates for lung cancer in Scotland aren’t much better than they were in the 1970s. This intervention could save hundreds of lives every year.

“This cancer screening programme is being rolled out across the whole of England. But not here. Why not?

“Why are we years behind? Why are we so slow? Why are Scots missing out on this life-saving detection service?”