As a doctor myself, I have seen first-hand the earth-shattering effects cancers has on patients and their families. Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK, and I sympathise deeply with anyone who has been affected by this devastating condition.

The drug ‘Kadcyla’ can give women suffering from highly aggressive forms of breast cancer extra months of life. I was shocked to hear the medication is to be withdrawn from the NHS, and wrote to Andrew Dillion, Chief Executive at NICE, highlighting the potential risk to over 1,200 breast cancer patients every year.

Read my letter to Andrew Dillon in full here: https://twitter.com/DrRosena/status/824673890748272641 

Having worked on the frontline of our NHS as a specialist A&E doctor, I am appalled by the Secretary of State’s suggestion that patients should self-diagnose. I have seen that the seriousness of a patient’s situation is not always immediately obvious and conditions can rapidly deteriorate without proper medical attention. In today’s debate social care funding in England, I told the Secretary of State for Health to take responsibility for the current crisis in the NHS, rather than pass the blame on to patients.

Beyond my experiences as an A&E doctor, I am a citizen of this country and a patient of the NHS. The NHS is one of our great national institutions and forms part of the essential fabric of our society. It is there for us all when we need it most and must be defended. There have been a number of debates in Parliament around social care, STPs and NHS funding; I have tried to speak in as many of them as possible. I feel the Government must be made aware of what is truly happening on the frontline.