I have written to the Health Secretary to highlight a number of concerns around cancer services that have been raised with me by charities and clinicians.
As Vice Chair for the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Cancer, I have been in regular contact with a number of organisations throughout the pandemic to hear more about the amazing work they are doing to support people at this difficult time, and what steps they feel the Government could take that would be helpful in maximising our recovery. I pay particular tribute to Macmillan Cancer Support and the Royal College of Pathologists, with whom I met again recently, for their commitment on this issue.
They have asked me to raise several key issues with the Health Secretary, and for him to outline what measures the Government is considering to tackle them.
These include:
- tackling the backlog in cancer services;
- workforce challenges;
- training and recruitment;
- IT and infrastructure;
- digital pathology;
- and genomics.
You can read a copy of the letter in full below.
I look forward to hearing from the Health Secretary in due course, and I will of course continue to do all I can to support residents in Carshalton and Wallington who live with cancer, and those who care for them.
If you have any particular questions or comments, please do let me know.
Photo by Ibrahim Boran on Unsplash.