Geoff Duke claims his deadly cancer was missed repeatedly when a GP refused to order him a blood test - telling him that "tests cost the NHS money".
Washington man Geoff, 50, was eventually - after switching GPs - diagnosed with myeloma. That's a lethal form of blood cancer which kills 3,000 people in the UK each year. Geoff's now in remission, but is still beholden to a cocktail of medicines, and is calling on the Government to ensure that GPs know more about myeloma.
Geoff, who is a father of four and expecting a second grandchild this year, says he had gone to the doctor repeatedly struggling with chronic back pain and issues like breathlessness. But he says his GP didn't think there was anything seriously wrong with him and it took him years and a new GP to be diagnosed. Geoff - who is a patient at Sunderland Royal and has nothing but praise for the staff there - is working with the charity Myeloma UK to raise awareness of the disease among patients and GPs.
