Tag Archives: cancer

Mark Valladares

26 October 2022 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Wed 26th October 2022 - 11:40 pm

Apologies for the lateness of the hour – I was trawling through my ballot paper for the Party’s internal elections…

  • Braverman appointment: Lib Dems call for Cabinet Office inquiry
  • Cancer diagnosis postcode lottery revealed as over 60,000 wait more than two weeks in August alone
  • Fiscal plan delay leaves families in a cloud of uncertainty
  • Concerns Over Welsh Government Housing Targets
  • PMQs: PM refuses to commit to 40 new hospitals
  • Scrapping triple lock would be a betrayal of pensioners

Braverman appointment: Lib Dems call for Cabinet Office inquiry

The Liberal Democrats have called for a Cabinet Office inquiry into the appointment of Suella Braverman to Home Secretary after she was sacked for breaching the ministerial code.

Liberal Democrats Home Affairs Spokesperson, Alistair Carmichael MP said:

Suella Braverman’s appointment makes a mockery of Rishi Sunak’s claims to be bringing integrity to Number 10.

There must be a full independent inquiry by the Cabinet Office into her appointment, including any promises Sunak made to her behind closed doors.

If it is confirmed that Suella Braverman repeatedly broke the ministerial code and threatened national security, she must be sacked.

A Home Secretary who broke the rules is not fit for a Home Office which keeps the rules.

Cancer diagnosis postcode lottery revealed as over 60,000 wait more than two weeks in August alone

  • 108 NHS trusts miss the two week cancer referral target (72% of all trusts).
  • Top 10 worst places for cancer referrals revealed.
  • Lib Dems call on the Government to bring forward an urgent plan to improve cancer care after NHS targets missed.

New analysis of the latest NHS data by the Liberal Democrats has revealed the worst places in the country to see a cancer specialist within two weeks after being referred by a GP.

A staggering 62,360 people had to wait more than two weeks to see a cancer specialist after a GP referral in August alone.

Despite the Government setting a target of 93% of patients seeing a cancer specialist after a referral, just 30 NHS trusts met the target. Some trusts only managed to see one third of people in time, as a post-code lottery is revealed.

The Liberal Democrats have revealed the top 10 worst places for cancer referrals in the country. Norfolk and Norwich NHS Trust is the worst, where only 34% of people were seen within two weeks of a referral.

Liberal Democrat Health spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:

This grim postcode lottery is a national scandal. The evidence tells us how critical a speedy cancer diagnosis is yet thousands of people are left waiting far too long. The sheer number of people anxiously waiting is completely unacceptable.

Our health services cannot be ignored any longer. The Government must prioritise resources to clear record backlogs, slash dangerously long ambulance waiting times, and solve the healthcare postcode lottery.

All we’ve had from this Government is broken promise after broken promise. It is time for real action.

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Paul Walter

Resumed Parliament discusses things that don’t begin with “B”

By Paul Walter | Wed 2nd October 2019 - 10:48 am

The resumption of Parliament has meant that important issues, that would have been sidelined during the ill-fated prorogation, are being discussed.

One subject very dear to Tim Farron’s heart is his private member’s bill, the Access to Radiotherapy Bill, which has been languishing in its first reading stage since December 2017. The resumption of parliament gave him a chance to implore the leader of the House to allow time for its second reading. This Bill is important because it would end the hell of cancer sufferers who have to take 3 hour round trips for radiotherapy day after day, week after week, in places like Tim’s constituency of Westmorland and Lonsdale:

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Mark Valladares

13 December 2018 – (not just) today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Thu 13th December 2018 - 11:15 pm

You’d think that putting the day’s piece to bed after 11.30 p.m. should cover everything. But no, the Press Teams both in London and Cardiff had one last shot in the dying moments of yesterday, so I’m including them with today’s batch. Enjoy…

  • Theresa May Must Give the People the Final Say – Welsh Lib Dems
  • PM must now change course and offer people the final say
  • Soaring numbers of children trapped in temporary accommodation is shameful
  • Welsh Lib Dems Welcome Prostate Cancer MRI Scans
  • Govt must set out plans to avoid NHS winter crisis
  • Lib Dems demand MPs holidays are cancelled to vote on Brexit
  • Cable:

…

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NewsHound

LibLink: Kirsty Williams: Cancer care in Wales

By NewsHound | Sun 17th April 2016 - 12:55 pm

Kirsty Williams 2All the parties in Wales have been asked to write a blog for the Tenovus Cancer Care charity’s website. This is what Kirsty Williams had to say:

Cancer is something that will touch the life of everyone in Wales at some point. So when it does, the system needs to be ready to step up and give the treatment and care patients, and their families, need.

Yesterday the Welsh Liberal Democrats launched our manifesto for the next Welsh Government which contained a number of commitments that would transform cancer care. Cancer causes more than one in four deaths, yet Wales is the only UK nation without a cancer awareness campaign and there are huge variations in cancer outcomes within Wales, we must address this.

In government we would develop an all-Wales Individual Patient Funding Requests panel and remove the ‘exceptionality’ hurdle which prevents many patients’ access to drugs that their clinician thinks could help them. Your clinician should choose your medication, not your postcode.

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Annette Brooke MP

Annette Brooke MP writes…Choice at the end of life is vital – free social care can make that happen

By Annette Brooke MP | Sun 1st February 2015 - 8:55 am

Annette BrookeThere are no dress rehearsals when it comes to where we are and who we are with when we die – so it’s crucial that people have as much choice and control over the situation as possible.  This is important not only to the person who is at the end of their life, but also those close to them. A person’s last days will stay with family and friends forever, so it is important that they should be left with a lasting, positive memory of their loved one receiving good quality care in a place of their choice.

What is not acceptable is for someone to end their days against their wishes in an expensive hospital bed, purely because they did not have the right support to die at home. Sadly, we know far too many people currently do not die in a place of their choosing. Macmillan Cancer Support found that 36,000 people with cancer who wanted to die at home died in hospital in England in 2012. In fact, 73 per cent of people living with cancer would prefer to die at home, but figures show only 30 per cent are currently able to do so. We cannot continue to have final experiences and enduring memories shaped by the absence of choice for people at the end of life.

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Caron Lindsay

Former MP John Barrett talks about his Cancer – and how screening saved his life

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 21st December 2011 - 12:55 pm

I know that many party members across the country will be concerned to hear that popular former Edinburgh West Lib Dem MP John Barrett has recently had surgery to remove a cancerous tumour from his colon. He’s decided to talk about his experience in order to persuade others not just to leave the screening kit the NHS sends to over 50s to one side gathering dust, but to make sure they use it.

He spoke to the Scotsman about what he’s gone through and his forthcoming chemotherapy. It’s obviously been a huge shock and upheaval, but he’s recovering well from the operation

…

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Paul Burstow

Paul Burstow MP writes: The hidden potential of early diagnosis

By Paul Burstow | Wed 23rd November 2011 - 11:53 am

To be told that you or a loved one has cancer is likely to be one of the most gut-wrenching moments of anyone’s life. To be further informed that the chances of survival are low is devastating. But if more people knew they could live a fuller life for longer, we could ease the impact of that devastating time.

Last week I commissioned health officials to conduct a scoping exercise into early diagnosis across the health service. The plan is that research will help us to understand what, if any, evidence exists as to the extent of delayed diagnosis and its …

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Paul Burstow

Paul Burstow MP writes: Continuing to support Cancer Networks

By Paul Burstow | Tue 31st May 2011 - 3:06 pm

Governments often pursue brave, bold new policies. But genuinely brave Government isn’t always about acting; it’s about listening, understanding and acting. And it’s also about admitting when you haven’t got it right. You’d have to have been living on another planet not to know that we have “paused” the Health and Social Care Bill. Our Sheffield conference made it perfectly clear that Liberal Democrats will not sign up to proposals without changes. We understand that this has to be much more than superficial tinkering. The message has been received loud and clear: only substantial changes will do. And that’s exactly what we intend to do. But there has also been another example of how this Government is prepared to listen and to act.

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Judith Jolly

Baroness Judith Jolly’s maiden speech

By Judith Jolly | Sun 30th January 2011 - 12:37 pm

In recent months, LDV has been bringing its readers copies of our new MPs’ and Peers’ first words in Parliament, so that we can read what is being said and respond. You can find all of the speeches in this category with this link. Earlier in January, Baroness Jolly of of Congdon’s Shop in the County of Cornwall, made her maiden speech in the House of Lords during a debate on the NHS. Her words are reproduced below.

My Lords, I start by thanking noble Lords kindly for the warm welcome that I have found since my introduction on Tuesday-from Members opposite as well as from my own Benches. Advice about my speech was to keep it simple, but most of all to keep it short. I extend these thanks to members of staff who have been exceptionally helpful in all manner of ways. I must say that I am not without trepidation. My introduction by comparison was easy, as once in my robes I was but an actor. Today, I feel somewhat naked without them, particularly in such eminent company.

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NewsHound

LibLink: Nick Clegg on Lib Dem cancer policies

By NewsHound | Tue 23rd February 2010 - 4:45 pm

Over at Cancer Research UK’s science update blog, Nick Clegg asnwers questions about the Liberal Democrats plan to do to help beat cancer. Here’s an excerpt:

Britain’s cancer survival rates are worse than many of our European neighbours – what are the Liberal Democrats planning to do to tackle this?

Nick Clegg – Early detection is key. It simply doesn’t make sense for people to be turned away from screening programmes because they’re thought to be too old or too young, so we’d scrap age limits on screening for a start. And we need to get more people to go and get

…

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Alex Foster

Daily View 2×2: 17 December 2009

By Alex Foster | Thu 17th December 2009 - 10:06 am

Good morning, and welcome to Daily View. Today we’re wishing happy birthday to children’s author Jacqueline Wilson and commemorating the death of Dorothy L Sayers.

2 Must-Read Blog Posts

What are other Liberal Democrat bloggers saying? Here are two posts that have caught the eye from the Liberal Democrat Blogs aggregator:

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The Independent View: Time to better regulate the sunbed industry

By Sarah Woolnough | Sun 4th October 2009 - 1:35 pm

Cancer Research UK welcomes the emphasis placed on public health and disease prevention in ‘A Fresh Start For Britain‘ recently backed by the Liberal Democrat conference – through mention of the need to tackle obesity, alcohol abuse, and smoking. We know that around half of all cancers are potentially preventable, so we welcome this focus. However, we believe there is one important omission – the need to better regulate the sunbed industry.

Earlier this year, the International Agency for Research on Cancer re-classified UV radiation (and therefore sunbeds) – elevating it to it’s highest risk category for cancer, the same as tobacco. Easy access to unregulated sunbed salons, particularly by young people, continues to be a problem across the UK.

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