Teresa at Cancer Research UK's Parliamentary drop-in on World Cancer Day.

Teresa has met with Cancer Research UK to discuss how more people can survive cancer if it’s detected and treated early after new  figures for Erith & Thamesmead were announced on World Cancer Day (February 4^th 2015). The figures show that one in two people will be diagnosed with the disease at some point in their lives.

There is therefore the urgent need to boost public health and NHS cancer services so they can cope with a growing and ageing population, and the increasing demands for better diagnostics, treatments, and earlier diagnosis.

Teresa said:

“There are more than three people diagnosed with cancer every hour in London, and with this number set to rise, it’s vital that we detect cancer earlier across the UK and that the NHS is fit to offer all patients the best possible chance of surviving. I am concerned that the referral rates for cancer patients in Erith & Thamesmead are lower than the English average and I will be working with GPs and health partners to find out why that is.

 

I’m backing the Cross Cancer Out campaign because it’s clear that we all have a role to play in helping to beat cancer sooner. The political drive to beat the disease must match the pace of progress in research.”

Teresa has called for greater measures to be taken to help prevent cervical cancer, including strategies to combat declining rates of uptake for cervical screening, and to promote the HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccination amongst teenage girls.

Ahead of Cervical Cancer Prevention Week, which runs from the 25^th to 31^st January 2015, Teresa recently attended a Parliamentary event hosted by Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust, where declining year on year rates of cervical screening were discussed.

In Bexley, 68% of 25-29 year olds attended cervical screening within the last 3 years (compared to a national average of 63.25%), and in Greenwich, 60.8% of 25-29 attended cervical screening with the last 3 years.

For HPV vaccination uptake in Bexley, 90.2% of 12-13 year olds had at least one dose, with 88.1% receiving two doses and 76.6% receiving all three. These figures are below the national average (91.11%, 89.77% and 86.70% respectively). In Greenwich, 85% of 12-13 year olds had at least one dose, with 82.5% receiving two doses and 77.6% receiving all three. These figures are also below the national average.

Continue reading →

Teresa with Donna Air at the Care2Save event in the House of Commons.

Teresa showed her support at a Westminster event this week for Care2Save, the newly-launched shopping site that will help raise funds for charities across Erith & Thamesmead when people shop online.

Online spending over Christmas is predicted to reach an all-time high of £13bn. If just 5 per cent of purchases are made through Care2Save, £19.5m could be raised for good causes this festive season.

The event enabled MPs to learn how Care2Save provides a new income stream for hospices and charities in the UK.

Donna Air – actress, designer and supporter of Care2Save – was also at the event, having recently revealed that her grandfather is suffering from dementia and is being cared for in a hospice.

Continue reading →

Teresa this week raised with David Cameron, during Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs), concerns about the use of agency staff by the NHS, and how full-time nurses could potentially be employed instead.

Teresa said:

“In the past four years the NHS has spent more than £5 billion on agency staff, about 20% of which will have gone into the pockets of the agencies rather than those of NHS staff. How many full-time permanent nurses would that have paid for?”

The Prime Minister replied:

“What we have in the NHS under this Government are 1,300 extra nurses and 8,300 extra doctors, and because we have cut the bureaucracy, we have managed to remove 21,000 bureaucrats. No one wants to see extensive use of agency staff. All well-run hospitals will have fewer agency staff and more permanent staff: that is what is happening under this Government.”

Continue reading →