An Oldham MP has claimed teenage cancer patients like Stephen Sutton are left feeling ‘fobbed off’ in the months before their diagnosis.
Debbie Abrahams, MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth, echoed comments made by Stephen’s mother, Jane Sutton, who has spoken for the first time since her son’s death about her anger after her son’s cancer was misdiagnosed as constipation for five months
Speaking at a Teenage Cancer Trust (TCT) event in Manchester, Jane said doctors ‘completely ignored’ the possibility that her son might have the disease – despite him having three key symptoms and a family history on his father’s side of Lynch Syndrome.
Ms Abrahams said: “We must learn from cases like Stephen’s and improve our cancer services to all, young and old. It’s crucial that people feel they can seek medical advice with confidence if they are displaying symptoms.
“Our GPs are under tremendous pressure and the Royal College of GPs are saying that the profession has ‘been brought to its knees’, due to the government’s £3billion top-down reorganization, which no-one voted for.
“Staff morale is at its lowest ever level with many retiring early from the profession. On top of all this we know it is particularly hard for GPs to detect cancer in young people, partly because they are relatively rare.
“But we should learn from examples like Stephen’s and aim to continually review and strengthen our cancer education programme across all age groups.”
Ms Abraham, who is also Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham, spoke at the TCT breakfast meeting as part of the Labour party conference in Manchester.
The Teenage Cancer Trust says it is concerned the disease is not being spotted early enough in young people because many are too embarrassed to talk to their GP.
The charity says it means under 24-year-olds are more likely to get a late diagnosis.
Nicky Pettit, Lead Nurse, Teenage Cancer Trust, said: “If you’re feeling tired or you’ve got lumps or bumps or swellings or headaches it doesn’t mean you’ve got cancer.
“There is a small chance you might have cancer so if you’re experiencing these problems you need to get them checked out quickly by a doctor to reassure you.
“If you don’t feel happy with what the doctor is telling you, you need to have the confidence to know there’s something wrong with your body, and pester the professionals and keep going back.”
Stephen Sutton was made an MBE before he died in May and his campaign has raised around £5million.
His mother Jane and the TCT are now urging political parties to commit to raising awareness so that young people can spot the early signs of cancer and are calling for more educational programmes about the disease.
