During our most recent meeting with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Steve Barclay shared with us how the government, in focusing upon early diagnosis of cancer, want the lessons and innovations from the Covid pandemic to be learnt. A ‘big’ investment into cancer vaccines is being made.

Another priority for the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care is preventative testing; he wants home testing to catch illnesses before symptoms are present. We applaud any initiatives to improve the early diagnosis of cancer, however, I shared my concern that currently cancer screening at home is quite complicated, and the science isn’t there yet. It is undoubtedly a useful tool for bowel cancer screening, but we are a long way off from being able to diagnose cancer like Jessica’s via a kit in the post. Investment and research into home testing are essential, as are improvements in improving cancer screening blood tests, but while we are waiting for these we need to have effective interim measures in place. We need a primary care task force that feels empowered and supported to refer patients, regardless of age, gender, and race, with urgency when red flag symptoms appear.

We heard from the Deputy Director of Cancer Policy and Performance, also in attendance at the meeting, there are some pilot programmes where the GP is being taken out of the equation, and people can refer themselves to a specialist. This is another promising initiative but inevitably we need enough equipment and staff to implement this effectively.

Too many young people are being misdiagnosed. We need to look to the future, but we also must focus on what can be done here and now.

Thank you so much for your continued support. Please share far and wide and encourage people to sign this petition. The unimaginable can happen and it destroys lives. One in two of us will have cancer in our lifetime. Let’s hope those lifetimes are long & happy.

This image, a cartoon edit, of Jess, was created by someone unknown to us. I am sure you agree, it is beautiful and a touching act of kindness. Jess has become a face recognised by so many and she is becoming synonymous with creating awareness and calling for change. We will continue to campaign in her memory. Later this week we have another meeting with ministers from the Department of Health and Social Care, for which we are grateful. I will keep you posted with any updates.