Child Cancer

Martyn Day Excerpts

Monday 28th November 2016 Westminster Hall

[Martyn Day (Linlithgow and East Falkirk) (SNP)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Davies. I thank the hon. Member for Bath (Ben Howlett) for opening this interesting and emotive debate, which was scheduled by the Petitions Committee. I am grateful to him for clearly explaining the issue and highlighting that unfortunately, the rarer the cancer, the greater the resource challenges it faces, and that development of paediatric drugs lags behind the development of drugs for adults.

It is a pleasure to follow such informative and powerful contributions by the hon. Gentleman and other participants from both sides of the House. I am particularly grateful for a couple of the points that have been made. I thank the hon. Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak (Steve McCabe) for putting this into the European context. Although we deal with small numbers in our country, childhood cancer is a much larger problem across that wider area. I am grateful to the hon. Member for Bristol West (Thangam Debbonaire) for illustrating the scale and challenge of the financial difficulties that people face. Unfortunately, the burden of relieving those all too often falls to charitable organisations rather than the state.

I offer my condolences to Mr Barnard and his wife on the sad loss of their daughter Poppy-Mai. I thank them for raising awareness of this important issue with the petition that brings us here. It must be very traumatic for them to relive each moment of that tragedy as they hear this debate. Unfortunately, theirs is not a unique case—such cases occur all too often across our countries. We must therefore recognise our shared responsibility to tackle child cancer.

The Scottish National party Government are working hard to improve cancer outcomes for children as well as the entire population of Scotland. As my hon. Friend the Member for Inverclyde (Ronnie Cowan) illustrated, cancer is relatively rare in children. Childhood cancer accounts for less than 1% of all cancers in Scotland, with approximately 150 new cases every year. There are approximately another 180 new cases in young adults aged between 16 and 25. An updated cancer plan for children in Scotland was launched earlier this year, which will complement the ongoing “Getting it right for every child” programme to ensure that Scotland’s children have access to the best possible services.

In recent years, the system in Scotland for supporting children suffering from cancer and their families has been reorganised. All cancer treatment centres now work together as one single managed service network for children and young people with cancer—the MSNCYPC, which may be the longest acronym I have ever used. As a result, young patients have access to appropriate specialist services that are as local as possible and both safe and sustainable. The network ensures that the care pathway is as equitable as possible, regardless of where in Scotland people live.

The SNP Government are focused on improving health outcomes for children, which is at the forefront of the SNP’s health priorities. We are serious about improving cancer care and treatment, which is a key reason why the Scottish Government will invest £100 million over the next five years through their new cancer strategy. As well as providing funding to health boards, we invest in a range of areas to support healthier lives for children and families, such as children’s palliative care, the cost of which is rising—delivering lifeline care and support to seriously ill children cost nearly 10% more in 2015-16 than the previous year.

That support for children’s palliative care charity funding is in stark contrast with what is happening in England. Barbara Gelb OBE, the chief executive of Together for Short Lives, says:

“We believe that ministers should follow the example of the Scottish Government, which has recently committed £30 million funding to Children’s Hospice Association Scotland (CHAS) over the next five years. We’re calling on the UK government to re-examine funding arrangements as a matter of urgency and carry out a national inquiry into the state of children’s palliative care funding in England.”

I hope the Minister will address that comment.

I commend the work of the many charitable organisations that are active in this field. For example, as others have highlighted, CLIC Sargent does tremendous work to support young people and their families as they come to terms with cancer diagnoses and journey through their treatment. In Scotland, leukaemia is the most common cancer in children—leukaemia, brain tumours and lymphomas account for more than two thirds of child cancers. The Brain Tumour Charity conducts various research projects and focuses on understanding the causes of childhood brain tumours. I take this opportunity to commend its investment of more than £18 million in its many research projects. Its commitment and work means that a brain tumour diagnosis no longer means a death sentence. Although that is welcome, it is sadly not the case for everyone, as has been evidenced.

Whole communities in my constituency were devastated by the tragic loss of five-year-old Tilly from Linlithgow, whose case echoes the points made by the hon. Member for North Thanet (Sir Roger Gale). Tilly lost her brave fight against her brain tumour just a few weeks ago, leaving her family heartbroken and touching the hearts of entire communities. A family member spoke to the Journal and Gazette, the local newspaper, about the support the family had received from the local community, which included fundraising to send Tilly to the United States, which is all too often the case. They said:

“We really could not begin to thank people enough for the support they have shown Tilly and the family during all of this. It has been overwhelming and we will be forever grateful. To raise such a massive amount of money shows how much people care and how communities come together when people need them. The money that is left over will be given to raise awareness of the type of brain tumour Tilly had and to help families who find themselves in a similar situation so they can get treatment for their loved ones.”

That action shows the strength of community feeling, which is echoed by the sheer number of people who signed the e-petition. It also shows how a child cancer diagnosis, with all its consequent personal and emotional devastation, affects more than just the child and their immediate family; it affects entire communities.

I thank all right hon. and hon. Members who have taken part in today’s consensual and informed debate, which I hope and trust has helped to raise awareness among the wider public.