The aim of The Macmillan Living With And Beyond Cancer Programme is to improve cancer care and support by 2020.
We can only do this if we know what it is we need to improve, and the only way to do that is by asking the people who have sat in the waiting rooms, heard that diagnosis and endured cancer treatment.
We need the help of the experts, people that have been directly impacted by cancer, as a patient or carer.
Everyone has their own ‘cancer story’ some of it good, some of it bad. We want to hear it.
Macmillan has been talking to people affected by cancer across the region for over five years, so we’re not starting from scratch.
Recently we spoke to a group of people affected by cancer in Barnsley (pictured) and it’s fair to say we have a sense for what needs to improve.
But we're not sitting back, we need people to continue to tell us about their experience.
We’ve drafted our Principles for Patient Engagement; this document will be our blueprint to ensure we involve people affected by cancer and act on what they say.
The principles will guide our partners in the level of participation we expect before any changes start to happen.
We want to set the gold standard for involvement across the region; we will support people to become leaders in shaping local healthcare services.
We’re a small team; we know we don’t have the capacity or skills to speak to every community across the region. We’ll be working with trusted partners to help us reach people within their own communities.
Please help us get this right now, at the start.
You can find the Principles for Patient Engagement here
Please let us know what you think in the comments section below by Friday 26 August.
• What have we got right?
• Are they in plain English?
• What do we need to remove?
Thank you!
Richard Metcalfe
Macmillan Programme Lead