bREast cANCER campaigner Juliet Crum lobbies david kidney  at westminster to make sure Government keeps breast cancer promise  

Stafford Breakthrough Breast Cancer advocate, Juliet Crum, campaigned for the Government to keep its promise that by 1st January 2010 all women with possible breast cancer symptoms see a specialist within two weeks, when she met David Kidney MP at the charity’s annual lobbying event, the Westminster Fly-In.

Currently only women referred by their GP as urgent are guaranteed to see a specialist within two weeks. However many women are referred as non-urgent  - or routine – and as a result can face an anxious wait of many weeks to find out whether they have breast cancer or not. Studies have also shown that a significant number of women originally referred as routine are eventually diagnosed with breast cancer, demonstrating the importance of a two week wait for all.

Speaking in her role as a Breakthrough Campaigns & Advocacy Network member Breakthrough member Juliet Crum from Stafford drew her local MP’s attention to Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s commitment of a two week wait for all women referred by their GP. She pointed out that many of NHS Trusts are currently not achieving this standard and with the deadline fast approaching, Juliet Crum is keen to make sure progress is being made locally.

The Department of Health publish breast cancer waiting times for urgent referrals every quarter. However, figures for routine referrals are currently not published. Without knowing these figures it is difficult for Breakthrough Breast Cancer and its network of campaigners to assess whether the NHS is on track to meet this target.

Juliet  explains: “Waiting for a breast cancer  diagnosis, whatever the outcome, can be extremely distressing and while it is great news that nearly all women referred as urgent by their GP to a breast specialist are seen within two weeks, women who are referred as routine can wait much longer.

“The Government’s deadline is drawing closer. So as well as finding out from my local breast unit what steps they are taking to make the two week wait for all a reality by the 1^st January, I’m also taking this opportunity to ask David Kidney MP to write to the Secretary of State for Health and ask that the non-urgent waiting times for breast cancer patients are published. Only then can we be reassured that the Government will fulfil its commitment on time.

Maggie Alexander, Breakthrough’s Director of Policy, Education and Influencing says: “Campaigners like Juliet helped Breakthrough secure the Government’s commitment that both urgent and routine referrals should be seen by a specialist within two weeks. We now want to know how long patients are currently waiting for routine referrals and be reassured that this deadline will be met. We know it’s possible and some hospitals have already achieved this.

“To support healthcare professionals and the NHS, Breakthrough has also worked with the National Cancer Action Team and NHS Improvement to produce a guide for breast units on how they can meet the two-week wait for all patients referred with breast problems.”

At the Westminster Fly-In Breakthrough CAN members also talked to MPs about  improving local services for patients affected by lymphoedema. Lymphoedema is an incurable long-term swelling that can affect people after treatment for breast cancer and can be painful and debilitating. Breakthrough CAN members are calling on their local Primary Care Trust to take the steps needed to achieve high-quality services that can minimise the impact of this condition.