EDM 497: Bowel Cancer UK report into NHS services

That this House recognises bowel cancer as the second biggest cancer killer, with over 13,500 people tragically dying from bowel cancer each year in England alone; acknowledges the findings from Bowel Cancer UK’s report entitled Delivering the ambitions of the NHS Long Term Plan: A review of progress of bowel cancer in England that whilst progress for bowel cancer services has been made, progress has still not been good enough; is concerned that progress on early diagnosis of bowel cancer has stagnated and that patients are experiencing longer waiting times than almost all other cancer; further recognises that nine in ten people survive bowel cancer if diagnosed at the earliest stage, compared to just one in ten at the latest stage; and calls on the Government, via their new national cancer plan, to deliver the optimisation of the Bowel Cancer Screening Programme and to create much needed extra capacity in endoscopy and pathology services to encourage early diagnosis.