FEMALE cancer sufferers said today they were disappointed by the Welsh government’s response to a Senedd health committee’s report on gynaecological cancer concerns.

The Welsh government’s response claimed that “the vast majority of those receiving cancer care for gynaecological cancer consistently report high levels of patient satisfaction with NHS services.”

Many of the women who had given evidence to the health and social care committee said they were surprised and disappointed with the response and said it did not represent their experience after their cancer concerns were repeatedly dismissed by professionals.

The report will be debated on the floor of the Senedd this afternoon when Health and Social Care Secretary Eluned Morgan will be called upon to elaborate on some of her responses and to reflect on the women’s feedback.

Scrutiny committee chairman Russell George said: “I hope the Cabinet Secretary will reflect on the women’s comments, and offer some reassurance to those who bravely shared their experiences with us. 

“Each year, around 1,200 people are diagnosed with gynaecological cancer in Wales and around 470 people die in Wales every year, a rate higher than the UK average,” Mr George said. 

Claire O’Shea, from Cardiff, who has uterine leiomyosarcoma was also sceptical of Ms Morgan’s claims: “As a patient, at no point have I been asked about my satisfaction levels with the services I have received.”

Ms O’Shea said she was “deeply disappointed by the tone [of the response] and the lack of concrete commitments to any transformative change that can meet the challenges and needs of women in Wales now and in the future.”

Tenovus Cancer Care is supporting the launch of Claire’s Campaign in association with cancer campaigner, Ms O’Shea. 

The campaign aims to amplify the voices of women who have felt ignored by healthcare professionals, leading to misdiagnosis, inadequate care and tragic outcomes.   

Ms O’Shea was initially diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome before being diagnosed with uterine leiomyosarcoma, a rare and aggressive cancer, almost two years after first raising symptoms with her GP.

Sioned Cash, whose mother, Judith Rowlands, passed away shortly after her evidence was shown to the committee, said that the Cabinet Secretary’s claims “sets the tone for the rest of the report to be one which is quite dismissive.”