Julie Marson, MP for Hertford and Stortford, has met with Dame Andrea Leadsom, the Primary Care Minister, asking her to introduce Jess’s Law on the statute book.
Julie has been working with Andrea and Simon Brady since 2021, helping them with their campaign after Jess Brady, their daughter, tragically passed away in December 2020.
Jess was misdiagnosed with Long Covid in 2020, despite having never tested positive for Covid-19. It was just three-and-a-half weeks before her passing that she was tragically diagnosed with Stage 4 Adenocarcinoma.
Andrea and Simon Brady have campaigned ever since for Jess’s Law to be introduced and, to date, their petition has over 300,000 signatures.
They delivered their petition to 10 Downing Street in 2021 alongside local MPs Julie Marson and Sir Oliver Heald.
Jess’s Law calls for a patient’s case to be elevated for review after the third contact with their GP surgery about a condition or symptom. This would occur even if an initial, unsubstantiated diagnosis had been made but symptoms were not resolved. Its primary aim is to help young adults with cancer get an early diagnosis, but the law would stand to benefit people with a wide range of conditions.
Under the law, GPs would be required to do more than order a blood test and settle for an inconclusive result. Thorough investigations would need to be made and conclusions reached. After the third point of contact with the GP, a patient’s case would be flagged automatically, rather than the patient themselves or their family having to fight for further investigations.
At her meeting with the Health Minister, the local MP pressed the Minister responsible so that the law could be introduced.
Speaking after the meeting, Mrs Marson said:
“Getting Jess’s Law on the statute book is hugely important. What Jess and her family went through was a tragedy and we should make sure that it never happens again.
“I am grateful to the Minister for her time. She committed to getting her team to look at the proposal in more detail and, potentially, following this with legislation.”
Commenting, Andrea and Simon Brady said:
“Jess was loving, kind, thoughtful and beautiful. She had a great sense of humour. She did everything right, she did not smoke, drink, or eat junk food. She exercised and was healthy. She was contributing fully to society doing a highly skilled job in science.
“What happened to Jess could happen to anyone. Cancer does not discriminate and neither should GP surgeries. Devastatingly, our petition shows Jess was not, is not, alone. We believe Jess’s Law will improve earlier diagnosis and give everyone what they deserve - a chance. We thank Julie for her continued support.”
Julie Marson MP has committed to continue working for Jess’s Law to be introduced as soon as possible.