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Olubukola Ayodele: This Recurring Theme of “Not Being Heard” is More Than a Communication Issue

Olubukola Ayodele/LinkedIn

Jun 25, 2025, 07:14

Olubukola Ayodele: This Recurring Theme of “Not Being Heard” is More Than a Communication Issue

Olubukola Ayodele, Consultant Medical Oncologist at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, shared on LinkedIn:

” ‘We kept going back and back to the GP… it took 6 to 9 months before anything happened.’

This was one of several stories I heard during a summer event hosted by the Belgrave Neighbourhood Cooperative Housing Association on the 21st of June. I was kindly invited by Kirit Mistry from the South Asian Health Action group and had the opportunity to meet some of the cancer community connectors. I also met Krishna Patel from the CEHR The Centre for Ethnic Health Research at the University of Leicester.

Some of the conversations were deeply unsettling. People shared their frustrations about delays in referrals, repeated GP visits, and feeling ignored or dismissed.

This recurring theme of ‘not being heard’ is more than a communication issue. It’s a systems issue. And it’s costing lives.

As oncologists, we don’t meet patients until a cancer diagnosis has already been made. But we know that the earlier cancer is detected, the better the outcomes. That’s why we must be proactive in promoting prevention, awareness, and early presentation. Because by the time people from these marginalized communities reach us, the opportunity for early intervention has often passed.

What struck me most was the openness and determination of local community connectors to make a difference. These are people rooted in the community, advocating for others and sharing their lived experiences to encourage early help-seeking. They are already doing vital work and we need to support, collaborate, and listen.

Events like this are essential. When we engage with communities in their own spaces, we build trust and gain insight into barriers that remain invisible in clinical settings. This is how we begin to shift the narrative.

In tackling inequalities in cancer care, we need to:

Improve the interface between GPs and cancer services
Collaborate with the ICB to co-design faster, more responsive pathways
Amplify the voices of grassroots leaders who are driving change
Listen actively to the experiences and concerns people are sharing

We can’t fix what we don’t acknowledge.

And we won’t improve outcomes unless we bring people in.

I am looking forward to working with the cancer community connectors to increase awareness and cancer literacy, ultimately leading to improvement in cancer screening uptake and outcomes especially in our ethnic minority groups.”

Olubukola Ayodele