MANY of us know somebody who has been diagnosed with cancer. Whilst more and more of us survive cancer these days thanks to advances in technology, it remains one of the biggest health problems our country faces.

Unfortunately, the UK as a whole has lagged behind most of Europe in terms of our survival rates, despite the welcome improvements to treatment we’ve seen. This is because many people do not get a diagnosis of cancer early enough for treatment to have the best possible chance of success.

One factor in this of course is that many people do not go to their doctor soon enough when they have persistent symptoms. But another factor is that it has been too difficult for doctors to refer patients for the kinds of tests they need to diagnose or rule out cancer, and when they do refer people for these tests, the waiting lists are too long.

So that is why my party – Plaid Cymru – welcomes the new guidance from NICE that relaxes the criteria for doctors to be able to refer patients for tests. However, this will obviously lead to greater demands and pressures on the NHS to provide those tests within a reasonable time frame.

That is why Plaid Cymru has pledged that if we form the next government of Wales, we will invest an extra £590 million into Health and Care services, a small part of which will be used to create three specialist diagnostic centres to add to the capacity of the NHS.

These centres will be one-stop shops where GPs can directly refer patients for a range of tests that can either pinpoint the cause of symptoms and ensure cancer is diagnosed and therefore treated earlier, or that can give patients the peace of mind of knowing they do not have cancer.

We will ensure that by 2020, 95 per cent of patients will have a definitive diagnosis or the all clear within 28 days of referral. This is a target recommended by the Independent Cancer Taskforce.

If we can make the earlier diagnosis of cancer a priority for the next Welsh Government, then we will be ensuring that more and more of us are able to survive and live with this illness.

Elin Jones

Plaid Cymru

Shadow Minister for Health