Julian supports Blood Cancer UK event
June 24, 2023
This week, Julian attended a Parliamentary drop-in session to discuss the effects of blood cancer, specifically the issues with diagnosis and treatments on offer.
Blood cancer is described as a “hidden cancer” by those who suffer it, given the symptoms are often very slight or, indeed, non-existent. However, it remains the third biggest cancer killer in Britain.
One of the issues Julian discussed was how the NHS mishandles treatments. Cases are often attributed to haematology, rather than oncology. Oncologists are far better placed to understand symptoms and therefore catch the cancer before it can develop into anything more dangerous for patients.
Increased political focus will go a long way to ensure people get diagnosed faster. Fast diagnosis, as with any form of cancer, is the best way to ensure people’s survival rates. As it stands, it takes on average, a patient to visit their GP three times before they are successfully diagnosed with blood cancer, when it is often too late.
The biggest piece of advice to deal with blood cancer is, if you have any doubt whatsoever, to get tested straight away and Julian is keen to see GP’s offer faster and more efficient ways of scaling up testing for all cancers, including blood cancer.
After the session, Julian was quoted as saying:
“it was a good opportunity to attend this drop-in session and learn about blood cancer diagnosis, as the stats show that people wait too long for far too many unsuccessful outcomes. In recent months, I have dedicated a lot of parliamentary time to helping promote awareness for all types of cancer. However, extra emphasis needs to be given to blood cancer given the lack of awareness that surrounds it.
