Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:10 pm on 10 December 2019.
I thank Lynne Neagle for that supplementary question. Of course, she is right that pancreatic cancer is one of the cruellest of cancers, that early diagnosis of it is particularly difficult because of the vague symptoms, as they call it in the clinical world, that it tends to present with. She will know as well that, even when early diagnosis is possible, a significant proportion of patients who are suitable for surgery also have jaundice at that point in the illness' path, which has to be treated before the surgery can take place. So, there are some real clinical challenges in dealing with pancreatic cancer through surgery.
So, we've got two issues to deal with here in Wales, Llywydd. There is the current pathway to which Lynne Neagle referred—and she'll be pleased, I know, that Swansea Bay University Local Health Board is aiming to recruit a fourth pancreatic surgeon to increase operating theatre capacity from two all-day sessions at present to three all-day sessions in the future, that they're expanding their clinical nurse specialist workforce at the same time. While that is happening, they are already referring patients across our border to capacity elsewhere, and patients from Wales who have been offered surgery, for example, at King's College Hospital in London—patients have already accepted this offer and undergone surgery there. So, there is work to do and more work to do in making sure that the current pathway works to the maximum extent and then there is—as I know the Member discussed during the debate that we held here just a week or so ago—the latest advice from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, producing an evidence appraisal earlier this year so that surgery can be offered more quickly to patients whose cancer is detected at the earliest stage. That is the discussion that has already been held with the Wales Cancer Network since that debate took place. The Minister is meeting next week with the Wales Cancer Alliance and the UK pancreatic cancer charity is part of that alliance. They have been very supportive of the single cancer pathway that we've developed in Wales and we will now we be looking to see ways in which that latest NICE advice can be incorporated into the way that that single cancer pathway is being developed.