Prostate Cancer

Lord Kempsell Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd September 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kempsell (Con)]

My Lords, I join with noble Lords in paying tribute to the noble Lord, Lord Mott, for convening this business and discussing an issue that is absolutely vital in order to save the lives of men across the UK. We are blessed in this House to have eloquent noble Lords who have shared their own experiences of diagnosis and treatment. Men advocating the importance of diagnosis, testing and the fight against prostate cancer is such an important part of advocacy across treatments and will definitely help to raise awareness. We are blessed to have those advocates share their experiences in this debate.

Before Front-Bench contributions and the Minister’s response, I will limit myself to one point, which is to give a voice to younger men in this debate. All too often, prostate cancer is thought of as an issue that affects only older men. As the youngest serving Member of your Lordships’ House, on behalf of younger men everywhere I point out that those young men are ordering private PSA tests at a higher rate than ever. That is all very well for younger men who have the means and awareness to do so, but it is not the case universally. So we need to revisit the guidance that doctors should not raise the issue of prostate cancer with men under 50 if they are non-symptomatic.

I echo the incredulity that has been expressed across all sides of the Lordships’ House about the other aspect of that guidance. Even for men over 50, there needs to be a proactive effort to engage in a conversation about the risk of prostate cancer. Let doctors be doctors. Let them treat their patients. They know their patients better than those who write healthcare guidance. I urge the Minister to visit that question in her response.