Bowel cancer patient's bid to end diagnoses in A&E

A mother-of-two with stage four bowel cancer is campaigning to stop emergency diagnoses after she was told she had the disease while she was on her own, with no family to support her.

Sana Shaikh, 32, said it was "devastating" to receive her stage three bowel cancer diagnosis in an accident and emergency department.

She is set to address a parliamentary reception at Westminster on Thursday as part of a new Bowel Cancer UK campaign.

Figures from the charity show one in four people with bowel cancer are diagnosed after they seek emergency treatment for their symptoms, which means the cancer is often more advanced and survival chances are lower.

Sana, who is originally from Hertfordshire, but now lives in Great Glen, Leicestershire, was told she had bowel cancer aged 29 in April 2023, after she visited Watford General Hospital's A&E department.

However, she was alone at the time as her mother was about to board a plane to India, her father had just left the hospital, her sister had recently given birth and her husband was at home with their two young children.

Sana said: "I was so nervous about what lay ahead and I had two young children, one who I was still breastfeeding at the time.

"The day I was diagnosed in A&E, I was also admitted overnight, and this is the first time I had spent time away from them.

"I was alone when I was told and I wish I was able to have someone with me."

Sana had spoken to her GP before her diagnosis as she had suffered with fatigue and low energy for several months.

However, she had no other bowel cancer symptoms.

She said: "I was getting tired of waiting for test results and I was worried about a growing lump, so I phoned 111.

"They sent me to urgent care, where the nurse immediately advised me to go to A&E.

"I was scanned and that's where my cancer was finally found."

Sana then started a three-month course of chemotherapy from May 2023, while she waited to find out if she could have an operation to get the tumour removed.

The Shaikh family moved to the East Midlands from Hertfordshire in 2024, as Sana wanted to be closer to her sister, Sumiyyah Ibrahim, 31, who lives in Leicester.

Sumiyyah, who had just had a baby, travelled to the hospital be with her sister after her diagnosis and has supported her ever since.

She said: "When I found out about her diagnosis, it ripped my heart apart because she is everything and I wanted to do everything I can to be there for her, to support her in every single way."

The sisters are both going to London on Thursday, where Sana will address a parliamentary reception, organised by Bowel Cancer UK, on emergency bowel cancer diagnosis.

The campaign aims to make emergency diagnosis far less common, by raising awareness among clinicians and the public on bowel cancer symptoms to look out for.

The new Bowel Cancer UK Behind the Emergency patient impact report said it wants "a future where symptoms are recognised early, referrals happen quickly and screening reaches everyone it should."

Sana said patients should be able to see a GP face-to-face.

She added: "If I had seen a GP in person and they were able to palpate my stomach, I think they could have felt it and done something about it a lot sooner."

"It's all about your survival rate and people who get diagnosed in A&E tend to be at a later and more advanced stage."

Sana has just finished a course of immunotherapy treatment and is awaiting results of a scan.

The BBC has approached the Department of Health and Social Care and West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust for comment.

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