Clear on Cancer: Help Us, Help You

 

BACK TO MAIN INDEX

 

NHS England has re-launched the cancer barriers phase of the ‘Help Us, Help You’ campaign. The aim of the campaign is to encourage people who are experiencing potential signs of cancer to come forward to their GP practice to help increase earlier diagnosis and improve outcomes.

When cancer is diagnosed early, treatment is more likely to be successful. However, early in the pandemic, the number of people coming forward to their GP with potential cancer symptoms dropped. Referrals for suspected cancer have been running at record high levels since March 2021, and we need to continue that trend to diagnose more cancers early.

Contact your GP practice if you experience any of the below symptoms:

  • Tummy trouble, such as discomfort or diarrhoea for three weeks or more;
  • Blood in your urine – even just once;
  • Unexpected or unexplained bleeding;
  • Unexplained pain that lasts three weeks or more;
  • An unexplained lump ; or
  • A cough for three weeks or more

Not all the symptoms of cancer are easy to spot. Contact us if you experience one or more of these symptoms for three weeks or more:

Survey data released reveals that over half (53%) of the public worry about cancer every few months or more, while over 1 in 6 (17%) worries about cancer at least once a week. Two thirds (66%) would also speak to friends and family before anyone else if they were worried about cancer symptoms. The most common reasons the public cited for waiting to book a GP appointment were not wanting to find out bad news and hoping thesymptoms would go away on their own.

If something in your body doesn’t feel right, talk to us by calling us on 020 8678 5420 or submit an online consultation via eConsult. Tests could put your mind at rest. Until you find out, you can’t rule it out.

Published: Jan 20, 2023