Wendy,

To encourage you, I have recently had an excellent experience of the NHS. I went to see my GP in March about a persistent bowel problem. After tests, he got me referred to our local hospital to have an endoscopy to look inside my bowel which took place mid April. They found a cancer, fortunately in its early stages and after further tests to verify the extent of the tumour, I had an operation at the end of May and they successfully removed all the tumour - no follow up treatment needed apart from monitoring. I am now virtually recovered and certainly feel much better than I did back in April/May this year.

Throughout that time, my treatment was excellent carried out in a professional and sympathetic manner. As soon as they had made a provisional diagnosis I was allocated a specialist nurse as a point of contact and she and her colleagues kept in touch throughout my treatment. Overall I am very pleased with the way things went and am looking forward to the future.

I hope your relatives have a similar experience and wish them well.

Geoff