IT was good to meet old friends from Pancreatic Cancer Scotland (PCS) in parliament last week.

I was pleased to hear from PCS that the health committee’s work last year into improving access to cancer medicines for patients has had a positive impact for individuals suffering from the disease.

However, the charity was not in Holyrood to simply thank the committee, rather, they were there to encourage members of the Scottish Parliament to support their calls for faster diagnosis of the disease and better care for patients.

When I met with them, I was told that pancreatic cancer is the sixth biggest cause of cancer death. It also has the worst survival outcomes of any of the most common cancers.

Tragically, if there are delays in an individual being diagnosed, it can result in the cancer spreading to other parts of the body.

In order to speed up diagnosis and to provide better patient experiences throughout the whole process, PCS and Pancreatic Cancer UK have called for a number of improvements to be made.

For example, they would like to see greater public awareness raising of the signs and symptoms of the disease and more support for General Practitioners who are the initial point of contact for patients.

They are also asking for monitoring of patient experience so that patient care can be evaluated and lessons can be learned.

To hear more about pancreatic cancer and exactly what these two charities are calling for you can access their Diagnostic Manifesto via the following link: http://www.pancreaticcancer.org.uk I sincerely hope that as a result of the increased awareness of this issue, positive and practical change will come for patients and their families in the very near future.