Lyn Brown MP has signed up to the Government’s pledge at www.voteNHS.com to create a new NHS guarantee of cancer diagnosis within 1 week of GP referral.  This will ensure that all NHS patients are tested for cancer and told their results in just 7 days.  

A quick diagnosis for cancer is crucial and this guarantee could save up to 10,000 lives a year.  All patients already have the right to see a cancer specialist within two weeks of diagnosis.  

Patients in Newham are already legally entitled to hospital treatment within 18 weeks of referral and the right to choose a GP practice which is open evenings or weekends.  Those aged 40-74 have a right to a free health check and free care and support in the home is guaranteed for those with the highest need.

Lyn Brown MP said,

“I invite everyone to join me in signing up to this pledge to guarantee cancer results to patients within one week at www.voteNHS.com.  Quite simply, early diagnosis of cancer saves lives.

Our NHS is something we should be proud of and has significantly improved under this Government.  Waiting times have fallen dramatically since 1997 and are now at their shortest ever.  In Newham, 94% of out-patients are treated within 18 weeks and 95% of cancer patients are seen within 2 weeks.  Incidences of MRSA have also fallen sharply.

But the Tories would scrap these guarantees and gamble with our NHS.  Targets and guarantees of treatment aren’t just ‘red tape’, they save lives.  That’s not something we should gamble with.”