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New rule for GPs after 27- year-old's cancer missed
23 September 2025
Philippa Roxby
Health reporter
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Andrea Brady
Jessica Brady contacted her GP practice more than 20 times feeling unwell
GPs in England are being urged to "think again" if they see a sick patient three times and can't pin down a diagnosis, or find their symptoms are getting worse
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.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said her death was "a preventable and unnecessary tragedy" and the rule would improve patient safety by helping GPs "catch potentially deadly illnesses
It was hard for Jess to advocate for herself. She was saying 'What's the point? Nothing will happen."
When the family decided to arrange a private appointment and she was referred to a specialist, it was too late.
Jess was given a terminal cancer diagnosis of adenocarcinoma, cancer of the glands that line the organs, in November and died three weeks later - just days before Christmas 2020.
The family hopes Jess's Rule will help to increase awareness of the importance of GPs acting quickly for patients who are steadily deteriorating
She had unintentionally lost quite a lot of weight, had night sweats, chronic fatigue, a persistent cough and very enlarged lymph nodes.
"But because of her age, it was obviously considered there wasn't anything wrong."
Jess had contact with six different doctors at her GP surgery and three face-to-face consultations with a family doctor, but no referral to a specialist was made.
"Her body was failing her," says Andrea
The fact I'm not surprised at all about what happened to her