Wessex cancer doctor warns Government of big challenges ahead

One of the South's top cancer doctors is warning law makers that they're facing huge challenges to support cancer patients.

It's estimated that 3.4 million people in the UK will be living the disease by the end of 2025.

Dr Richard Roope from the Wessex Cancer Alliance, which has a base in Dorchester, says more patients are surviving and living longer.

He said: "In a way, it is that sort of a rather contradiction in terms in that the challenges we have are a product of our success."

Dr Roope told Greatest Hits Radio that over a thousand people get diagnosed with cancer every day in the UK, and is imploring the Government to ensure they're given the support they need.

He said: "One of the real challenges for this government and for future governments is that actually, in the UK, we spend less of the health funding on cancer than a lot of other countries in Europe and in the sort of westernised world.

"It sort of feels as though our policymakers and politicians haven't yet grasped the size of the cancer burden."

Dr Roope says plans need to be made quickly: "We actually have to be quite strategic in thinking about this now, urgently, so that we can get the workforce in place to to support those that are living with and beyond cancer."

Another consequence of people living longer with cancer is that they're living long enough to develop a second cancer, or cancer as a result of old age.

This is leading to approximately 762,000 unpaid carers supporting someone with a terminal illness, according to a report by charity Marie Curie.

The report also highlights the alarming number of people living below the poverty line while caring for loved ones at home.

Dr Roope said GP's are having to juggle demands across many areas to support both patient and carer.

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