Government wants to ‘expedite’ national lung cancer screening, says Gray

The Scottish Government is looking at “every possible step” to speed up the introduction of a nationwide screening programme for lung cancer, the Health Secretary has told MSPs.

Neil Gray said while there are “challenges” with introducing a screening programme for the disease, ministers are “seeking to overcome” these.

He made the commitment as he agreed that such a programme “can save lives”.

And with screening being rolled out in England, Reform MSP Graham Simpson pressed the Health Secretary on the issue at Holyrood.

Mr Simpson said: “Waiting times for the most serious cancer cases could be reduced if we caught people early.

“That’s why we need a national screening programme for lung cancer – not the pilots the Scottish Government has promised.”

He said smokers and former smokers aged between 55 and 74 in England were eligible for screening, adding that as a result “77% of lung cancer is now diagnosed at stage 1 or 2, compared to stage 4 in Scotland.”

Speaking about screening, Mr Simpson added: “It saves lives and it saves money and I want to see it throughout Scotland.”

Mr Gray accepted that while there had been “some progress made in England” with regards to screening, “challenges” meant the programme “is not consistent and it is not universal”.

The Health Secretary added: “Those challenges are ones we are seeking to overcome on a consistent, national and universal basis so that we do have the lung screening programme we have committed to get up and running as fast as possible.

“We are looking at every possible step to expedite a lung screening programme on a universal basis here in Scotland, for the very reasons Graham Simpson outlines, absolutely it can save lives.”