Cancer Survival Rates

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:15 pm on 18 September 2018.

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Photo of Rhun ap Iorwerth Rhun ap Iorwerth Plaid Cymru 2:15, 18 September 2018

(Translated)

There was a story in the media yesterday, as it happens, about a patient who had survived cancer but who had found a new growth. There was an application for a PET scan, and that was rejected. The reason for that rejection has not been given, but according to the community health council in north Wales, it’s far easier to access PET scans in certain areas than in others. There is inconsistency.

Now, as we know that early diagnosis is a key driver when it comes to surviving cancer, isn’t it clear that we need, first of all, access that is as swift as possible, particularly for people who have survived cancer in the past, but also that there is clear inconsistency, as we saw with mpMRI scans recently? Will you admit that the lack of consistency means that some people in some parts of Wales have less chance of surviving cancer than others?