A CANCER survivor from Blackburn has called for more action to tackle the disease.

Bashir Admed, 34, was diagnosed with bowel cancer after going to A&E and believes more needs to be done to improve awareness and early diagnosis.

The St James Road resident is now working with Macmillan Cancer Support and other health groups to shape future cancer services in the region.

He said: "When they told me it was cancer I just froze with shock. It was the first time I thought about dying. After having surgery, the doctors didn’t think I’d pull through. It was the scariest time of my life.

“I heard about the work Macmillan was doing and wanted to get involved, because my family and I feel I should have been diagnosed earlier. I’m very lucky to have survived.”

Bashir is part of a patient user group, set up by the Macmillan Cancer Improvement Partnership, to share views and experiences and help improve cancer services in the area.

The partnership is pumping £1 million into a three-year programme aimed at providing better care and support for cancer patients.

One key focus is improving cancer awareness and early diagnosis by working closely with all 90 GP practices in the area.

The work involves practice nurse training, setting up Practice ‘Cancer Care Teams’ and implementing a standard two week wait referral system.

There is also a project to increase the uptake of bowel screening in the area among those aged 60 – 75, which is around seven per cent lower than the national average, according to latest figures from Public Health England.

Bashir said: “People don’t know what services are provided and they don’t go to their GP, which is why I wanted to get involved in raising awareness. The more information there is out there, the more chance there is of lives being saved. Early diagnosis is key.”

Jeremy Such, Macmillan Development Manager in Lancashire, said: “Bashir’s experience highlights the issues we have around early diagnosis and cancer awareness in East Lancashire and Blackburn with Darwen. We know that early diagnosis dramatically increases chances of survival, which is why we’re investing heavily in this area.

“Work is already underway to increase uptake of bowel screening in particular and improve awareness of early signs and symptoms among health professionals and the public. All 90 GP practices in the area have signed up to be part of the improvement work and have already introduced new ways of working to improve outcomes for cancer patients. We are also consulting patients like Bashir regularly to ensure that cancer services reflect patient needs.”

Coun Mohammed Khan, Blackburn with Darwen Council’s executive member for health and adult social care, added: “I’m delighted that Bashir has agreed to sign up to work with the project and help shape future cancer services. His experiences will be invaluable.

"The project is all about transforming cancer care locally and his input as well as others who sign up via Nazmun’s patient user group will play a vital part in achieving that.”