Scottish Government must listen to Scot Lib Dem plans for cancer screening

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has today urged the Scottish Government to adopt his party’s plans for a national lung cancer screening programme, as new figures showed that a rise in the number of deaths from cancer in Scotland.

Two new reports from Public Health Scotland into cancer incidence and mortality out today reveal:

• The number of deaths due to cancer has increased by 3.2% (to 16,265 from 15,764 in 2013)

• 1 in 4 cancer deaths (24%) are due to lung cancer. The rate of lung cancer was more than three times higher in the most deprived areas compared with the least deprived.

• There have been big increases in liver cancer. In men, liver cancer deaths have risen by 15% and among women, liver cancer deaths have increased by 20%.

• For all cancers combined (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer), rates were 24% higher in the most deprived areas compared with the least deprived.

In the first quarter of 2025 only 68.9% of cancer patients were seen within the 62-day standard treatment time, the worst performance since records began. The target has never been met since it was introduced in 2012.

Scottish Liberal Democrats have launched a petition which calls for the SNP government to roll out a full, nationwide screening programme for lung cancer, which experts say could hundreds of lives every year.

Three years ago, the UK National Screening Committee recommended that the whole of the UK introduce lung cancer screening to help prevent the disease or catch it early. The programme is targeted at those who are high risk: people aged between 55 and 74, and who smoke or who used to.

It is already being implemented in England, and Wales has now announced that it will also do a full rollout. Currently, there are no plans by the Scottish Government to do the same.

The petition can be found HERE.

Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said:

“Cancer patients cannot depend on this SNP government.

“In Scotland, more people die of lung cancer than any other form of disease. Survival rates aren’t much better than what they were in the 1970s.

“International studies show Scotland falling behind with cancer care. The SNP’s failure to roll out a national lung cancer screening programme is another example of that.

“My party wants to see the government ending their dithering and making a full rollout of this screening programme a top priority. We know there isn’t a moment to lose when it comes to getting cancer patients life-saving interventions.

“Access to diagnosis and treatment is a postcode lottery across the country. We need serious investment in both diagnostics and staff, and an end to patchwork care.

“The public should back our campaign and help us to fix cancer prevention, diagnosis and care.”

ENDS