2. What is the Welsh Government doing to support people with brain tumours? OQ61353

Thank you for the question. The Welsh Government has published policy for both cancer and neurological conditions that focuses on ensuring people have access to high-quality diagnostic and treatment services for conditions such as brain tumours. Our approach is based on supporting NHS organisations to deliver care in line with clinical standards.

Thank you for that response.

Many of us here will recognise the name Molly Fenton and her Love your Period campaign, which aimed to reduce the stigma around periods and period poverty. However, many will not know that Molly lives with a brain tumour and has been made a young ambassador in Wales for the charity Brain Tumour Support. Many people, like Molly, are often diagnosed with a brain tumour and go through a lengthy and sometimes unsupported diagnosis experience. Lots of people in the brain tumour community visit their GP multiple times before being sent for a referral, and are often misdiagnosed. So, what steps are the Welsh Government taking to improve diagnosis times for those affected by brain tumours?

Thank you for the question. I want to start by recognising what the Member says about Molly Fenton. She's a highly impressive young woman. I was very impressed with her work on period dignity, and that's work that we've been able to support through the Government. I'm aware that she is living with a brain tumour, and I think it's important that the lived experience of people like Molly is taken account of by our health boards to understand what more they can do not just to improve clinical outcomes, but the experience of the person going through the journey. So, if Molly hasn't had the opportunity to speak with the health board, I'm sure the Member, or in conversation with me or the Cabinet Secretary for health, would want to make sure that there's an opportunity to learn from her experience. 

The broader picture with brain tumours is actually one where we're able to get symptoms identified and through to definitive treatment at a more rapid pace than some other cancers. Across Wales, it's over 90 per cent who are within the expected waiting time. The challenge, though, is getting to the point of getting a diagnosis, understanding what's happened, because the symptoms can often affect other conditions as well. So, we routinely meet the waiting time target and we also have Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission-accredited centres of excellence in both north and south Wales. It's also where we're committed to rolling out further training, but also there's the investment we've already made in our rapid diagnostic centres, where a GP suspects cancer but the symptoms are not clear. This is a point about how we educate and bring our workforce with us that exists as well as the new workforce. It's how we invest in new diagnostic capabilities, and it's also about listening to and learning from the patient about what they see, what they feel and what they experience. So, as I say, I think it's really positive to recognise Molly's own journey, and to learn from that directly, and for the rest of us, too.

Thank you, Julie, for raising this important issue. First Minister, the best thing the Welsh Government can do to support people with brain tumours is to ensure that they receive, as you already said, an early diagnosis and swift treatment. Cancer research and academia are searching for better treatment and a cure, but it falls to the Government to ensure the best chances for survival for those who develop such tumours, and in this we are failing. We have seen around a 40 per cent increase in the incidence of primary brain tumours over the past 30 years. Survival rates for brain tumour patients have barely improved over that time period, and survival rates for the most aggressive tumours remains around 10 per cent, and there recently appears to be a shortage in the diagnostic workforce. According to a recent report by the Royal College of Radiologists, there is a staggering 34 per cent shortfall in clinical radiologists, and a 12 per cent shortfall in clinical oncologists. If immediate action is not taken, the workforce shortfalls in clinical radiology and clinical oncology are projected to rise to 28 and 38 per cent. That's projected to be, by 2028, the largest shortfall in all four UK nations. Therefore, First Minister, what urgent actions are you taking to address shortages in clinical radiology and oncology? Thank you.

I think there are perhaps two points worth mentioning before I then come to the point about the future of the workforce. Last year, we saw over 94 per cent of people with brain and central nervous system cancers within our target from suspicion to first definitive treatment, so, actually, that's a very high performing overall percentage. It doesn't mean, if you're someone on the wrong end of that, that it isn't a really difficult circumstance, and even if you're referred and treated within our target time, it doesn't mean that it isn't potentially a difficult experience. That's why I made the point about clinical outcomes, but also about the person's experience. On outcomes, in the last study done over a significant period of time, it showed a 13 percentage point improvement in one-year net survival. So, we are getting better; the challenge is how much faster can we deliver improvement in the future. That does rely on continued investment in the kit, so the point about imaging, and, of course, we have an imaging academy in Wales, and we continue to invest in that new diagnostic and imaging equipment, but, more than that, the imaging academy that's been created is actually about how we train and keep our staff.

Now, later today, the Cabinet Secretary for health will make a statement about the training of healthcare professionals. We have consistently, over a number of years, invested in training the maximum number of staff that our system can do here in Wales, and that is paying some dividends. The challenge is that demand is increasing at such a significant rate. We need to carry on investing in the workforce, in the people that need to do the job, whilst at the same time seeing where there are more resources to be able to do that more successfully. It takes in a wide range of areas. It's part of the reason why, when you think about this whole piece, I'm really proud that this Government is going to deliver a new medical school in Bangor from this autumn with its first intake. That's a significant step forward for all of us. It takes years to get to the design point, years to make the case, and then the significant financial investment. We will benefit, though, from that return, in addition to the wider work we're doing in the whole workforce. As ever, that takes resources, and I hope we'll have a bigger resource base over the course of the next UK parliamentary term to deliver on that.