Call to end late cancer diagnoses
Cancer nightmare of patients wrongly diagnosed
DOCTORS are coming under growing pressure to address the problem of late cancer diagnoses.
Cancer experts are warning GPs need more support to speed up referrals to hospital and better equipment to help spot cancer signs earlier.
The calls come as we reveal that families across the country are being devastated by the problem.
Campaigner Dr Jean Turner said: “It’s tragic this is happening but I’m not surprised.”
STUDIES show up to 10,000 people in the UK die every year as a result of late cancer diagnosis.
And survival rates for almost all common cancers are worse in Britain than the European average.
The situation is so severe the UK Government is threatening to name and shame GPs who repeatedly fail to spot crucial signs.
Last week we told how Davie Robertson had to attend 11 appointments before medics told him he had cancer.
By the time he was diagnosed it was too late and now he has just three months to live.
Since then we’ve been inundated with calls from cancer patients and their families who have experienced similar issues.
The callers – or the relatives on behalf of whom people contacted us – made countless visits to GP surgeries and hospitals, convinced they were seriously ill.
But each of them was told they had nothing more than a common illness.
Some were advised they were not a priority, or were wasting their doctor’s time – time which could be better spent helping genuinely sick people.
It was only after pushing for further investigations that cancer came to light.
Fo r others, delays in tests meant it was too late for treatment.
By telling theirheir sto-stories, these peoplepeople hope changes ges can be made to save others from a similar fate.