Virendra Sharma MP

Virendra Sharma MP TAKEN ON CANCER PATIENT JOURNEY

Virendra Sharma MP TAKEN ON CANCER PATIENT JOURNEY

Virnendra Sharma MP showed his support for efforts to beat cancer at a major Cancer Research UK event on cancer treatment in Parliament.

During the (14th July) briefing, the Ealing Southall MP heard about the different approaches used to treat cancer patients in the UK and was taken through a range of treatment pathways that a patient may follow after being diagnosed with the disease.

He heard about the importance of diagnosing and treating cancer early and the need for patients to have timely access to world-class treatment.

Virendra Sharma also learnt about how people affected by cancer can find reliable, easy to understand information from Cancer Research UK on their patient information website, CancerHelp UK (www.cancerhelp.org.uk). If people in Ealing Southall have concerns about cancer they can call the Cancer Research UK’s information nurses on freephone 0808 800 4040 9am until 5pm Monday to Friday.  They can also visit Cancer Research UK’s patient forum, Cancer Chat (www.cancerchat.org.uk) where they can share information and experiences with other people affected by cancer.

Virendra Sharma MP said: “Detecting cancers early is absolutely vital. If people know more about the signs and symptoms of cancers and talk about this with friends and family, we could improve early diagnosis.

When cancer is diagnosed early, it is much easier to treat successfully. We must ensure that there is access to existing and new ways of diagnosing cancer as soon as possible so that patients are given the best and most effective treatment.”

The importance of giving patients access to innovative cancer treatments was also highlighted during the briefing. 

Aisling Burnand, Executive Director of Policy and Public Affairs at Cancer Research UK, said:

“People with the same cancer, at the same stage of development, often do not receive the same type of treatment. It is of the upmost importance that patients have timely access to treatments. Although the UK invests far more in cancer research than any other country in Europe, it is often much slower to take up the fruits of this research.

“Cancer Research UK believes the Government should be doing more to encourage the uptake of new technologies into the NHS. It is important to remember that this applies not only to new cancer medicines but also surgical and radiotherapy techniques. We must maintain investment in cancer services, recognising the scale of the cancer burden in the UK and our poor survival rates compared to a number of other countries.”