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I, too, thank Clare Adamson for bringing the debate to the chamber and I welcome the people who join us in the gallery. On behalf of Scottish Labour, I mark pancreatic cancer awareness month and world pancreatic cancer day, which took place earlier this month.

Raising awareness of illnesses such as pancreatic cancer is pivotal to ensuring early diagnosis and improving the prognosis. Indeed, I consider it important to highlight in the chamber, as I did last year and as others have done, the key symptoms of pancreatic cancer, including abdominal or back pain or discomfort, unexplained weight loss or a loss of appetite, yellowing of the skin or eyes and/or itchy skin, a change in bowel habits, nausea or vomiting and indigestion that does not respond to treatment. Knowing those symptoms and seeking medical advice, even as a precaution, can be life saving or life prolonging and it is key that we continue to support the public awareness campaigns.

I will mention our NHS. We cannot avoid the fact that, in Scotland, we have an NHS that is not always working for patients and staff. An NHS that was founded to be universal, free at the point of need and accessible is, through no fault of our first-class workforce, now struggling daily to survive. We cannot fill the vacancies. We need to be more honest and talk about the reality for patients, families and staff as we face that.

I do not particularly want to labour the point, but I will talk about the reality of inequality in health in Scotland. In the debate on this topic around this time last year, I warned that the Scottish Government had to do more to tackle the widespread health inequalities that, to this day, remain a stain on our society and adversely impact people from our most deprived areas. The reality is that the Government does not show enough urgency in dealing with the problem.

Research released this week by Cancer Research UK highlighted that people who live in deprived areas in Scotland are more likely to get cancer and, tragically, more likely to die. It highlighted that cancer death rates are a devastating 74 per cent higher in the most deprived populations than they are in the least deprived populations. The research also confirms that there are lower one-year and five-year survival rates among the most deprived groups. That is the reality for people in Scotland’s poorest communities. We should all be shocked by it.

It is right that we have such members’ business debates and that we do them in a consensual manner, but I urge the minister to commit in her closing speech to come to the chamber during Government time to set out a clear plan for what has already become a crisis in health inequalities in Scotland. We must take action to address the health inequalities linked to cancer that our country faces.

The most recent data from Public Health Scotland confirms that pancreatic cancer remains among the top 10 most common cancers for men and women. As the motion states, it is the deadliest of the common cancers, which should encourage serious and prompt action even if nothing else does.

It is important that we take this opportunity to highlight the symptoms of pancreatic cancer and to encourage everyone who has even the slightest doubt or concern to seek the medical advice that could be life saving. The decisions that we make as elected members can save lives. The radical and determined fight against health inequalities can make a difference, and I urge members to make time to debate the subject further.

I again thank Clare Adamson for bringing the debate to the chamber and I thank the visitors who are in the gallery.

I wonder whether the convener of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee would like to add to the committee’s work programme; we should perhaps scrutinise the information that we have heard today.

I realise that I must come to a close. The people of Scotland, the workforce and the health service need the Scottish Government, the cabinet secretary and, if I am honest, back benchers to be much more open about what is actually happening in our health service. We need to look at the cuts that have been made and at what we can do to make a difference. We must ensure that the Government will put up with scrutiny from the Opposition, because good opposition makes good government, and I want the people of Scotland to have a good and fair public health service.

Of course, there was Mike Russell.

I wonder whether the convener—[Interruption.]

Thank you, Presiding Officer.

The fact that so many people were sent out to trash the story made it more real to us, because the Government was obviously concerned. I have had a lot of respect for Bob Doris during my time in the Parliament, but I thought that his speech today was not a fair representation of what is going on.

I see that the cabinet secretary is laughing about that.

We have a change of heart there from the member.

I thank Pam Gosal for bringing the debate to the chamber. One of my first speeches last year was in the debate on eliminating violence against women. I remember in my speech reflecting on the fact that, although the work around the globe on the issue is to be commended and is essential, it must make us think. We, the elected members in this Parliament, have a responsibility to work hard, make decisions, make action happen and ensure that we do not have to make the same remarks in years to come. I am here speaking again to ensure that we in the Scottish Parliament do all that we can to raise awareness, change and implement suitable laws, and amplify the voices of women and girls.

The theme this year is “UNITE! Activism to end violence against women and girls”. I again thank Pam Gosal for allowing us to do just that here, in the chamber.

As the motion says, violence against women and girls continues to be one of the “most pervasive” human rights violations worldwide. The statistics are damning:

“it affects more than an estimated 1 in 3 women ... it is estimated that on average a woman or girl is killed by someone in her own family every 11 minutes across the globe”.

Since the outbreak of Covid-19, emerging data and reports from people on the front line have shown that all types of violence against women and girls—particularly domestic violence, as we have heard—have intensified.

Each woman who is a victim of violence must be treated equally and fairly by an establishment that understands, or at least seeks to begin to understand, why they have gone through it. We need a global collective effort to prevent it, and we need to understand that everyone has a role to play. That begins with accepting that the problem is a serious one around the globe and that we do not have it under control. That means more honesty from Governments, and it means direct engagement with grass-roots organisations, health and recovery charities and global institutions. It means having prevention strategies focused on early education, respectful relationships and working with men and boys, especially through and in the media, the sports industry and the world of work. As my colleague Pauline McNeill has mentioned, the social media aspect is coming much more to the fore. We must tackle the issue in Scotland and right around the globe.

As parliamentarians, we must push to ensure women’s representation at all levels in politics, economic development, governance and planning—the list is endless—but, until women and girls have full and equal representation, it is unlikely that we will change what are dreadful statistics.

There is so much to be done, but I thank my colleagues here today, who have raised some really important issues about violence against women and girls from right around the globe. I know that we can unite in the Parliament to end this outrageous blight on global society, ensuring that we tackle violence against women and girls.

It is old and tired rhetoric that the Government uses. The Government constantly ignores its own position in Scotland.

I actually wanted to say that I was heartened by the opposition in the chamber to the notion of privatisation of our much-loved NHS. I believe the Government in that regard, but I ask Stuart McMillan whether he actually believes that the BBC was lying to us about what happened. We should not understate how concerning the broadcast reports of creeping privatisation were; they truly sent a shockwave through the NHS and the public when the story broke.

In closing for Scottish Labour, I want to be clear that our motion has been brought to the chamber to ensure that the voices of patients, carers, GPs and all primary care staff are heard loud and clear—oh boy, has that been necessary. It is obvious that the SNP Government and SNP back benchers are ignoring the pleas for help from all corners of our healthcare system.

It is unfortunate that, in his amendment to our motion, the cabinet secretary suggests that the pressures on primary care are due only

“to the effects of Brexit, the global pandemic and the cost of living crisis”.

Granted, those issues contribute to the pressures that exist—of course they do—but there is a glaring omission, because those pressures are also due to his, the First Minister’s and the entire Government’s shocking mismanagement of the health service in Scotland, their lack of openness to scrutiny and their constant harking back to what happened many years ago. My colleague Paul O’Kane pointed out that the SNP has been in government for 15 years. Given the cabinet secretary’s closed approach, it is disappointing—although not surprising—that allies of the SNP are considering options such as privatisation of the NHS in Scotland.

I would like clarification of whether there are hurdles that Suzanne McGuinness feels could be overcome to get mental health into the bill, and whether she feels that we will not be able to get mental health services in the bill.