The Grace Kelly Childhood Cancer Trust is proud to support the launch of Jess’s Rule; an initiative aimed at improving the early detection of cancer and other serious diseases in patients. Officially introduced today, Jess’s Rule advocates for a specific approach to repeated healthcare consultations, urging that any adult or child who presents to a healthcare professional three times or more with persistent symptoms, should be thoroughly assessed for consideration of there being a cancer diagnosis or other deadly condition.
The new NHS initiative, called Jess’s Rule, is named after Jessica Brady who contacted her GP on more than 20 occasions after starting to feel unwell in the summer of 2020. She was told her symptoms were related to long Covid and that she was “too young for cancer”. She died from advanced stage 4 cancer later that year, aged 27.
Jess’s rule also aims to address concerns that younger patients and those from minority ethnic backgrounds often face delays in diagnosis of serious conditions.
The Grace Kelly Childhood Cancer Trust is a charity dedicated to the early detection and treatment of childhood cancers and fully endorses this recommendation that asks GP teams to ‘reflect, review and rethink’ if a patient presents three times with the same or escalating symptoms. Our current work with GPs and parents promoting early diagnosis of childhood cancers through our signs and symptoms awareness cards already works to this principle of “three consultations and consider cancer”.
Dr Jen Kelly, CEO of the Grace Kelly Childhood Cancer Trust commented:
“Our thoughts are very much with the family of Jess Brady at this difficult time. No GP wants to miss a diagnosis of cancer, whether it is in a child, young person or adult. Jess’s Rule provides a clear framework that can help ensure no child or adult falls through the gaps. We fully recognise that the increasing pressures and workloads faced by GPs makes patient care even more challenging. Many GP surgeries already use this rule, but by rolling this out as standard practice across the UK could help save lives.”
Evidence underscores the significance of this “three strikes and rethink approach” approach in children. A study by R Dommett et al. (2012) found that certain childhood cancer symptoms, when combined with multiple consultations, can increase the likelihood of a cancer diagnosis tenfold. This underscores the critical need for healthcare professionals to consider cancer as a potential diagnosis when a child or adult presents multiple times with persistent symptoms.
The Grace Kelly Childhood Cancer Trust remains committed to raising awareness, providing educational resources, and fostering collaboration among healthcare professionals to ensure that childhood cancers are detected and treated at the earliest possible stage.
Our current initiatives include:
- Signs and symptoms education – Our teaching materials and publications are designed to ensure that even the busiest clinicians receive the information and training they need.
- GP Presentations – We have written presentations for general practitioners to improve awareness and support clinical decision-making.
- Collaborations – We have worked with education providers including GatewayC and Red Whale to provide accessible training and e-learning modules to professionals.
Why does this matter
In the UK, over 4,000 children and young people are diagnosed with cancer each year with childhood cancer being the leading medical cause of death of children. Early recognition is key to improving survival rates and reducing treatment intensity of children and young people with cancer.
To read more about The Grace Kelly Childhood Cancer Trust, please visit the website: https://www.gkcct.org