Cancer Workforce and Early Diagnosis — [Mr George Howarth in the Chair]

Part of the debate – in Westminster Hall at 10:04 am on 8 January 2019.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Stephen Lloyd Stephen Lloyd Independent, Eastbourne 10:04, 8 January 2019

It is a privilege to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Howarth. I thank Jim Fitzpatrick for securing this important debate.

I will keep my remarks brief because quite a lot of people want to speak, so I will focus on one area of early diagnosis—that of bowel cancer. There are two reasons for that: bowel cancer is the fourth most common cancer, and it is the second biggest cancer killer, yet bowel cancer is not only treatable but curable, especially if diagnosed early. The Minister will know that since my re-election I have pressed him and the Department hard to reduce the bowel cancer screening age in England from 60 to 50. I was delighted when, a few months ago, the Minister agreed to that and announced that the reduction would take place.

I pay tribute to my constituent Lauren Backler, who started the campaign to reduce the screening age three years or so ago. Sadly, her mother died in her mid-fifties; it is very likely she would not have died had she lived in Scotland and had an early diagnosis. That prompted Lauren to launch a campaign, and it has been an unbelievable success in numbers alone: more than half a million people across the country have signed her petition. Colleagues in the room and I have campaigned avidly for it for the last couple of years, and the Minister and the Department of Health announced the change a few months ago.