John Baron MP speaks at Macmillan’s Parliamentary Question Time

John at the Question Time event

MP says earlier diagnosis could save thousands of lives

On Wednesday (7^th May), John Baron MP was a member of the panel for Macmillan Cancer Support’s annual ‘Parliamentary Question Time’. Following the format of the television programme, the panel was asked questions by the audience, which was made up of Parliamentarians, charity representatives and cancer patients.

John was invited to join the panel as Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Cancer (APPGC). Fellow members of the panel included: Andy Burnham MP (Shadow Health Secretary); Paul Burstow MP (former Health Minister) and Ciarán Devane (Chief Executive, Macmillan Cancer Support).

Afterwards, John said,

“This is a fantastic annual event, bringing together MPs, the cancer community and patients. I know all found it a very useful and worthwhile experience.”

“Of the wide range of subjects we discussed, I believe improving earlier diagnosis is the most important. Late diagnosis makes for poor survival rates, and rectifying this could save thousands of lives each year. Fortunately, the NHS reforms offer powerful tools to achieve this.”

“In June, statistics measuring one-year cancer survival rates for every Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) in England will be published for the very first time. Politicians, NHS England and the wider cancer community will be able to assess the performance of, and hold accountable, their CCGs when it comes to earlier diagnosis. Underperforming CCGs will need to introduce initiatives promoting earlier diagnosis to increase survival rates.”

“This is excellent news for cancer patients, and the APPGC will be hosting a Parliamentary reception in July to mark this important development.”