AT the time Gordon Brown was announcing his New Year health service initiatives, I was myself on the receiving end of NHS treatment, having a mammogram at St Barts Hospital.

I was referred to the breast cancer family history programme by my doctor eight years ago and have been monitored ever since. Given the incidence of cancer in my family, this is thought to be a sensible precautionary measure.

As always, I was struck by the care, conscientiousness and competence of everyone I encountered that day, and was again grateful for the professionalism of the vast majority of our health workers in this country.

The Barts breast cancer family history programme is a large programme with tens of thousands of women being checked every year as part of an early detection plan, and I am delighted that Mr Brown announced more preventative health-care projects to be introduced over the coming years. But we need to take full advantage of what the health service already offers.

Too many of us here in Newham wait too long before seeing the doctor with the lump, the cough, the back pain, the difficulty passing water. We fail to get the treatment we need when we need it.

There is always something else that is more important, always something else to do and we don't want to bother the doctor with something that will go away of its own accord.

But if we are honest, there is sometimes a bit of fear that niggles away and we don't want to face up to the fact that something might actually be wrong.

This stoicism is costing lives here in Newham. Our survival rates for cancers and other treatable but deadly diseases are poor, and they are in part poor because we prevaricate, we do not look after ourselves and when something is wrong we go to the doctor later than our peers elsewhere in the country.

Every year when I go to Barts, I have that same worry. All year I can ignore the possibility that I could develop the disease but those emotions really surface once I get that card informing me of the appointment date. But attending that appointment just might help to detect that cancer earlier than I would otherwise have done, and that precious time may just be the thing that helps me to beat that cancer if it comes.

I think that it is really good news that the NHS is now in a position to extend its health screening to other potential killers. The Prime Minister's New Year health announcements are just what Newham needs, and they are what I and every other NHS patient needs - a focus on prevention rather than cure, notably for heart disease, stroke and kidney disease. There will be more diagnostic tests in GP surgeries, such as blood tests, electro-cardiograms and ultrasounds.

In the future, extended screening for breast cancer for women, preventative vaccines against cervical cancer and other preventative measures will be introduced to create a more uniform, personalised NHS with greater choice.

Patients in England will be offered screening for early signs of these conditions which affect thousands of people in this borough every year. Of the 200,000 deaths each year from heart disease and strokes, many are preventable - but we need to attend these sessions and take up these services when we are offered. To steal a phrase from a rather cheesy advert, "Look after yourself - you're worth it".

If you have any comments on this, or other issues to raise with me, write to Lyn Brown MP, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA, write an e-mail to me at brownl@parliament.uk or call my office on 020 7219 6999.