Thank you for writing to me concerning ovarian cancer and for inviting me to become an Ovarian Cancer Champion.
I am currently already a Ovarian Cancer Champion
As was highlighted by the Senedd’s Health and Social Care Committee’s report: ‘Unheard: Women’s journey through gynaecological cancer’, the struggles faced by women with a gynaecological cancer can be numerous, and are only exacerbated when their voices go unheard and their concerns are brushed aside.
Whilst my colleagues and I appreciated the former Cabinet Secretary for Health’s apology to women who had been let down by the Welsh NHS, it was clear that the issues raised in the report reflect a broader and systemic failure in our health service to prioritise women’s needs.
I, along with Welsh Conservative colleagues and stakeholders such as Tenovus Cancer Care, Marie Curie and the British Gynaecological Cancer Society, were greatly dissatisfied with the Welsh Government’s response to the report’s findings.
Early diagnosis is vital in our battle against cancer. In Wales, less than 60% of people with cancer are diagnosed and start treatment within 62 days of a suspected cancer referral. The target is 70%, and I am deeply concerned that people in Wales cannot rely on the Welsh NHS to provide prompt diagnosis and treatment for cancer.
Wales still remains the only part of the United Kingdom without a women’s health plan, and we have been led to believe that as and when such a plan materialises it will not include a specific section on gynaecological cancers. It is simply not good enough.
Welsh Conservatives will continue to push for the Welsh Government to put emphasis on women’s health, deploy a women’s health plan, and to sincerely listen to the health concerns of women to ensure our health services can provide what they need.