In marking World Pancreatic Cancer Day, the Member of the Welsh Parliament for Aberconwy – Janet Finch-Saunders MS - has called for clarity from the Welsh Government on what steps are being taken to increase prescription rates for Pancreatic Enzyme Replacement Therapy (PERT) in Wales. The intervention has come in the form of a Written Question.
Pancreatic Cancer affects nearly 500 people a year across Wales, and three in five of these people are diagnosed at a late stage. The symptoms caused by pancreatic cancer have a distressing impact on people, often unable to digest their food leading to rapid weight loss, malnutrition and loss of muscle mass.
PERT is a tablet to take with food that replaces the digestive enzymes that many people with pancreatic cancer can no longer produce. According to a recent UK-wide Pancreatic Cancer UK survey, 3 in 4 people living with the cancer felt that PERT improved their quality of life.
Commenting on her Written Question, Janet said:
“According to statistics obtained by Pancreatic Cancer UK via the RICOCHET Study Group and West Midlands Research Collaborative, only 3 in 5 people with pancreatic cancer in Wales are being prescribed PERT. This is in spite of the fact that NICE guidelines clearly recommend the drug for people with both operable and inoperable pancreatic cancer.
“In part, the issue with the prescription levels comes from a reported lack of awareness about PERT among healthcare professionals and the stage at which people with pancreatic cancer are diagnosed. Indeed, I understand an early diagnosis can be difficult with this specific cancer.
“When patients are diagnosed, it is crucial that they are referred with a sense of urgency to treatment services. Further to my recent interventions calling for a closure of the gap between diagnosis and treatment, I have now called for clarity from the Welsh Government as to what actions are to be taken to improve PERT prescription rates across the nation.”
