Parkinson’s Awareness Month

Patricia Ferguson Excerpts

Thursday 1st May 2025 Commons Chamber

[Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow West) (Lab)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Dunfermline and Dollar (Graeme Downie) on securing this important debate at the end of Parkinson’s Awareness Month.

I would like to begin by paying tribute to my old friend and former colleague Margo MacDonald, SNP Member of this House briefly in the 1970s and Member of the Scottish Parliament for the SNP and as an independent from 1999 until her death in 2014. Anyone who knew Margo will remember that she was a force of nature and that anything she did was done with her typical determination, wit and good humour. I credit Margo with my limited understanding of Parkinson’s and its variability, because for all the time she was in the Scottish Parliament she had Parkinson’s, but it did not stop her being one of the most effective communicators and advocates for her constituency.

In my constituency, some 222 people are believed to be living with Parkinson’s as we speak. I want to thank those who care for them—professionals, family members and volunteers alike—for their hard work and commitment. As we have heard, there is no cure for Parkinson’s, and current treatment can manage only some of the symptoms. It can be a frightening disease, and one that can lead to depression and despair.

In Scotland alone there are approximately 30 new diagnoses every week. In 2024, Parkinson’s UK in Scotland produced an excellent report called “Scotland Can’t Wait”. In the report, Parkison’s UK in Scotland highlighted the many challenges that people with Parkinson’s currently face and the problems that will arise if the challenge of the increasing number of people being diagnosed is not addressed. The report drew on experience and robust data and makes some very important points.

It highlights that investing in professional staff who can offer the kind of specialist treatment that people with Parkinson’s need would be an important step forward. Existing staff are already stretched, and if action is not taken soon they will be pushed to breaking point. Ensuring that people get the appropriate medication when it is needed, whether they are in hospital or at home, is also vital. Crucially, the mental health impacts of Parkinson’s need to be addressed, including Parkinson’s dementia, which can be frightening for patients and their families.

A recent freedom of information request revealed that since the year 2020, less than half a million pounds was spent by the Scottish Government on research into Parkinson’s disease. By my calculations, that is something like £34 per person suffering from the disease in Scotland. That seems to me to be a woeful amount of money. I recognise that the effort to find a cure for Parkinson’s will inevitably have to be a global exercise, and one that this Government, I am sure, will want to play a large part in. But everyone has to get their act together and up their game, including the Scottish Government. At the end of the day, we want to find a preventive approach to Parkinson’s, but a cure along the way would be helpful too.

Parkinson’s UK in Scotland called its report “Scotland Can’t Wait”, and rightly so. The 30 people diagnosed every week cannot wait, and the 222 people in Glasgow West certainly cannot either. It is time for Governments on both sides of the border to act and work with Parkinson’s UK and Parkinson’s UK in Scotland to ensure that we do better for people with Parkinson’s for their families and the staff who support them. Parkinson’s UK has shown us the way; it is now time that we follow it.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)]

We now come to the Front Benchers. I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.