Minimally Invasive Cancer Therapies

Lord St John of Bletso Excerpts

Thursday 24th July 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

The noble Lord has identified an unexpected spin-off of being a Minister or shadow Minister in this place.

The noble Lord makes a very important point. The fundamental basis of the 10-year plan is how we move to earlier diagnosis, with the three shifts, including moving treatment into the community. I have had personal experience; for example, where men who have been shy about going to a GP with concerns about their breathing have been taken out the GP route and allowed to go straight to a local X-ray department, where early stages have been picked up. All those innovative means already being used need to be rolled out. That is why the 10-year strategy is focusing on early prevention, shifting services to the community and making sure that we free up space within the acute sector for specialist services.

[Lord St John of Bletso (CB)]

My Lords, I declare an interest, having had two early-stage tumours removed from my right lung just three weeks ago. I would never have known that I had cancer had I not had some CT scans and been proactive in my general cardiovascular health. What measures are the Government taking to promote early-stage screening, particularly for those over the age of 50?

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

I thank the noble Lord for sharing his personal experience with us. It makes the debate so much more real when we hear about the circumstances. The emphasis on shifting services to the community is to enable local places to recognise that there are hotspots for different cancers or diseases that can be picked up. The promotion of public health initiatives, such as screening, needs to be done at a very local level. From experience, I know that that promotion then passes on through word of mouth, which is often the most powerful way that we can get the message across.