Contribution
It is a real pleasure, as always, to serve under your chairship, Mrs Hobhouse. I thank the hon. Member for Wokingham (Clive Jones) for raising this matter, which affects constituents in every part of this United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. I always admire the hon. Gentleman because of the personal experiences with cancer that he tells us about. I have heard about them from him personally, but also in this Chamber. His heart is for those with cancer, and those who suffer and need to find a cure. I congratulate him on all he does.
As the hon. Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough (Tom Gordon) mentioned, the Macmillan coffee morning was this morning. Macmillan put forward some recommendations this morning, and I wonder whether the Minister has had an opportunity to have contact with the group. Macmillan is always helpful—it is not here to catch anybody out—and it was putting forward positive ideas on how to do things better. Perhaps the Minister can indicate whether that opportunity has come forward.
In this life, there are not many things that I say I hate—when I use that word, I mean it—but I do hate cancer. I hate the devastating effect it has on people and families. I hate that children suffer and that their parents can only stand by and watch, as happens on many occasions. I hate that children are left motherless or fatherless and that nothing can be done. I hate having to deal with that dreadful disease. But most of all I hate that we cannot cure it—at least, not yet.
One of my requests to the Minister, who is always incredibly helpful, is on research and development. Statistically, one in two people we meet—half the people in this room—will have cancer; 50% will survive, and 50% will not. The research and development is so important for getting to the day when we find a cure. I know the Minister is committed to that, and I hope she can give us some idea what is being done on that.
Each of us in this place will have been touched by cancer. I think of my own dad. My dad has been dead now for 10 years, but he was a cancer survivor on three occasions. He put that down—as I would as well—to the skill of the surgeon, the care of the nurses and the prayers of God’s people, which helped him get out the other side.
We can argue about microwaves, about preservatives in food and about genetic or carcinogenic factors, but this debate is about ensuring that NHS workforce levels enable every sufferer to have the best chance possible to fight cancer. As the hon. Member for Wokingham and others who have spoken have said, we are not there just yet. There are insufficient NHS workforce levels in Northern Ireland—I know that that is not the Minister’s responsibility, but I want to give a flavour. Things are not that different there; what happens in Northern Ireland happens in England, Wales and Scotland. If cancer patients have delayed diagnoses and treatments, that can lead to potentially life-threatening consequences and increased anxiety. First, people are anxious about their health, and then they are anxious about how to pay the bills: “Do I get benefits? Can I get some help to get me through? Can I get my mortgage extended?” People have to face up to really life-altering circumstances, and unmet support needs as well.
Then we have the shortages in key roles, such as specialist nurses, radiologists and surgeons. Unfortunately, that means that treatment targets are frequently missed and patients do not receive the full support they require during and after treatment. The situation is worsened by growing waiting lists, increased workloads for existing staff and a lack of resources for both acute and community-based care.
The hon. Member for Wokingham spoke about pancreatic cancer. Many cancers are devastating, but pancreatic cancer is one of the worst. In the last 10 days, a young lady from Greyabbey, a village close to where I live, died of pancreatic cancer. She was 31 years of age, with a five-year-old son and a partner. I remember others. When pancreatic cancer is diagnosed, it is too late, because it has already taken effect and the body is already succumbing to that terrible cancer. That is why I go back to research and development. Will we find the cure for pancreatic cancer someday? Will we be able to diagnose it at an earlier stage so that we can give the treatment and help that are needed?