John Milne - Department of Health and Social Care debates

2 John Milne debates involving the Department of Health and Social Care

Lobular Breast Cancer

John Milne Excerpts
Tuesday 10th December 2024

(1 week, 4 days ago)

Westminster Hall
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John Milne Portrait John Milne (Horsham) (LD)
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I thank the hon. Member for Dulwich and West Norwood (Helen Hayes) for raising this vital issue. Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death for women worldwide, and many, if not all, Members will know somebody who has faced the frightening prospect of breast cancer treatment, which is unfortunately all too common and impacts the lives of millions, whether directly or indirectly. What is fortunate is the progress in detection and treatment, which has provided many patients with positive outlooks and a healthy future life with their loved ones.

Sadly, this prospect is often not afforded to the 15% of breast cancer sufferers diagnosed with invasive lobular cancer. Survival prospects for those with ILC can be relatively good, but only for those who are diagnosed early, before the cancer has spread. I repeat the calls of other Members and Breast Cancer Now to publish the findings of the UK national cancer screening review into breast cancer risk stratification. If improvements are made so that we can detect more elusive forms of breast cancer, tens of thousands of lives could be saved. However, improved detection is not enough by itself. Women diagnosed with ILC face another issue: the treatments they are provided are not tailored or specific to their cancer. In short, they are treated for a disease they do not have.

One of those women, as has been mentioned, is Dr Susan Michaelis, who lives in my constituency of Horsham, where I met her earlier this year. Susan is an incredible woman who has campaigned tirelessly on invasive lobular cancer treatment and research. She was diagnosed with lobular cancer in 2013, but the treatment she then received was designed for ductal cancer, which is the most common form of breast cancer. As a result, Susan’s condition evolved and became resistant to the treatments now available.

Someone less determined might have given up looking for answers, but instead Susan went out and started the Lobular Moon Shot Project and, yes, I have already planted my Susan Michaelis rose. She met research experts to build an idea of the cost of research into the basic biology of invasive lobular cancer in the hope of improving outcomes for those yet to be diagnosed. The Institute of Cancer Research has deemed that £20 million is enough to make significant progress, and Rob Clarke of the Manchester Breast Centre will head up that work in conjunction with world leading experts. That is all agreed.

Since then, Susan and the Lobular Moon Shot Project have lobbied MPs and Government Departments. Hundreds of MPs have supported the application for funding. In the last Parliament, the number was 247; there have already been almost 200 in the current term, and I am sure that many more will join the call. The team at the project should be commended for all their hard work and amazing, ceaseless energy.

Given the Government’s recent announcements about taking a firm business approach to funding within Departments, research into lobular cancer makes for a strong business case as well. Breast Cancer Now research shows that the cost of breast cancer to the UK economy is £2.6 billion. That is set to rise to £3.6 billion by 2034. Ongoing cancer treatment is expensive, with each patient requiring approximately £10,000 a year, whereas the £20 million research request equates to £240 per lobular cancer patient over the next 10 years.

Early detection and better treatment can reduce the overall time the NHS needs to support patients. Put simply, research into lobular cancer saves both lives and money. If the human arguments are not enough for the Government to commit to this vital research, then let us talk about the money. The previous Government included lobular cancer research in their women’s health strategy for England 2024 and acknowledged that there was an urgent, unmet clinical need. I ask the new Secretary of State to renew that commitment and to fund the Lobular Moon Shot Project’s call for research, which will enable the NHS to offer specific treatment to lobular cancer patients and end the one-size-fits-all approach. Dr Susan Michaelis and the lobular ladies hope that they will be the last generation to go through the experience of insufficient treatment and poor outcomes, and I hope that this Government can make that a reality.

Access to Primary Healthcare

John Milne Excerpts
Wednesday 16th October 2024

(2 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Milne Portrait John Milne (Horsham) (LD)
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The ongoing crisis in GP access is as acute in my constituency as elsewhere. That is not simply because there are more patients, but because today’s patients have greater health challenges and need to see their GP more frequently. That is why simple comparisons with GP ratios from the past do not work. We need a health service capable of meeting today’s needs, not those of 20 years ago.

In Horsham, it has become routine for surgeries to fill all available appointments within minutes of opening. Relatively junior staff are obliged to spend the rest of their time saying no to frustrated, anxious and—not infrequently—angry patients. The danger is that we might enter a spiral of decline whereby demoralised staff leave, piling more pressure on to those who remain and scaring off replacements before they have ever had a chance to settle. We must get working conditions right, and that cannot be achieved in a state of permanent understaffing.

We must also get more from the services that we already have. Unleashing market forces on the NHS, and setting pharmacies, GPs and hospitals against each other, was a mistake. Effectively, they are in commercial competition to provide more of the treatments that pay well and less of those that do not. Only integrated care boards are in a position to take a holistic view of patient provision, but that is not really happening yet.

There are any number of alarming statistics relating to our health service, but I will conclude on one that is a bit more positive. As mentioned by one of my colleagues earlier, studies by the University of Cambridge and others suggest that where patients are seen by the same GP over 15 years, the average mortality rate declines by 25%. That is a remarkable level of improvement, more than could be expected from almost any other intervention. Let us give GPs the space to do their job properly, and let us support this motion.