Yourhealth MY GIRL’S BROKEN BONES WE

A lack of training means GPs are failing to spot signs of the disease in children and young people, says LAURA MILNE

WHEN Ruby Connar was eight she fractured her wrist. It was put down to a normal childhood mishap but six weeks later she did it again to another part of her wrist. In the following six months, Ruby suffered a further four breaks, including her elbow and wrist, all from seemingly innocuous incidents.

“Ruby was a very active, healthy little girl, always running about, climbing and swimming,” says her mum Josie, 46. “She went from being a girl who ran everywhere and loved climbing to not being able to walk at all and having to use a wheelchair.”

Despite numerous visits to A& E and the GP, the family from Cranbrook, Exeter, had no idea what was wrong with Ruby until November 2011 when a bone marrow test at Bristol Royal Hospital for Children revealed she had acute lymphoblastic leukaemia ( ALL).

ALL is a cancer of the white blood cells that begins in the bone marrow. It can affect young people of any age, but it is most common in children aged one to four. Provided it is diagnosed quickly, survival rates for this type of cancer are good. In those aged 14 or younger, nine out of 10 will beat the disease.

By the time Ruby was diagnosed, the medics treating her believed she had lived with the disease for 10 months. “If they hadn’t discovered it, she would only have had weeks to live,” says Josie. “It was absolutely dreadful. I thought that I was dealing with the imminent death of my child.”

She adds: “I was cross with the GP because it took so long to find out what was wrong, but a nurse at the hospital made me realise how rare it is that GPs come face to face with a child with cancer.”

NEW research commissioned by the children’s cancer charity CLIC Sargent has revealed that a lack of available training is one of the biggest barriers GPs face in identifying cancer in children and young people. Parents of children with the illness have reported delays in the time taken to have their child diagnosed after first visiting their GP – just under half had to see their GP at least three times before the disease was finally spotted.

The two most common reasons parents cited for a delayed diagnosis were misdiagnosing their child’s symptoms and seeing their GP many times before they were referred.

The charity is now calling for improved support for GPs in identifying childhood cancer to help combat the impact a delayed diagnosis can have.

CLIC Sargent asked more than 1,000 GPs across the UK to indicate barriers they faced in identifying cancer in children and young people. Almost half ( 46 per cent) said not enough training available and almost a third ( 32 per cent) said a lack of awareness of the symptoms were among the top barriers to being able to spot the disease.

“It is very striking that so many GPs feel more could be done to help them identify suspected childhood cancer,” says Lorraine Clifton of CLIC Sargent. “And we are deeply concerned that so many parents feel their child’s cancer diagnosis was delayed and tell us that they believe this had a negative impact on their child’s health and wellbeing – and their own.

“Because cancer in children is rare, a GP may only have one or two cases in their whole career. We welcome moves by government