Have you received cancer treatment from BARTS health?
Are you looking for the opportunity to improve cancer care and speed up diagnosis? At the UCLH Cancer Collaborative, we are looking for people affected by cancer to apply for several important roles! By joining our Patient and Carer Network, you will be the first to hear about new ways to be involved.
What are the current opportunities to get involved?
- Transform diagnosis of bowel cancer
If bowel cancer is diagnosed early, there’s over a 90% chance of successful treatment. Currently, people undergo a colonoscopy to detect it, which can be unpleasant. Quantitative faecal immunochemical test (qFIT or FIT) is a new, highly accurate and non-invasive test that detects hidden blood in stool samples. It is also considerably cheaper than a colonoscopy.
After a successful pilot of FIT, they are setting up a Steering Group to oversee the implementation of this new test in north central London – Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey and Islington. They are looking for up to 3 people affected by bowel cancer to join the Steering Group. This is a great opportunity to be part of a project which could transform diagnosis of bowel cancer.
2. Drive improvements in patients’ experiences of cancer pathways
They're working hard to improve cancer pathways – from diagnosis, treatment, to holistic support and quality of life. We want to speed up diagnosis, increase participation in research, reduce waiting times, and make patient experience of services as good as it can be.
Their Pathway Boards each focus on a type of cancer tumour, and are responsible for driving these improvements. Pathway Boards meet quarterly, and bring together healthcare professionals and patient representatives. This is an opportunity to have a significant impact on services across the health and care system.
They're currently looking for new patient representatives with experience of brain and spine, breast, colorectal (bowel), gynaecology, lung, skin, and hepato-pancreatic-biliary cancers.
3. Keep the voice of people by affected cancer at the heart of everything we do
Their Patient Experience and User Involvement Steering Group is made up of people affected by cancer who are passionate about engaging communities and making an impact on the future of cancer care. The Steering Group oversees all of the work they do to improve experience of care and work collaboratively with local communities.
If you enjoy thinking strategically, are committed to representing the diverse perspectives of everyone affected by cancer and working collaboratively with healthcare professionals, then this could be the opportunity for you.
They're particularly keen to hear from people from black and minority ethnic communities, who live in east London boroughs, or who were treated at Barts Health, North Middlesex, Princess Alexandra or Homerton Hospitals.
Who are they looking for?
People who have had cancer, or who have been a carer or close family of someone who has, and who would like to get actively involved in shaping the future of cancer services. You don’t need any previous technical knowledge or experience to join our Patient and Carer Network. We are looking for people who:
- Are passionate about improving services for everyone affected by cancer
- Enjoy working in a group, sharing ideas and learning from others’ perspectives
- Can work collaboratively with healthcare professionals and other Network members
You must have had your cancer treatment at one of the 17 NHS hospitals in the area
How will they support you?
- They offer an induction and peer-to-peer events to help you understand our work and how you can contribute effectively
- They reimburse travel expenses
- Meetings are held in accessible venues
- They send quarterly updates on our work
- Our Patient Experience and User Involvement team offer guidance and support
How can I find out more?
Please visit http://www.uclh.nhs.uk/getinvolvedwithcancer to download application documents for specific roles. You can also email uclh.getinvolvedwithcancer1@nhs.net or phone 07950 960 159 to talk to a member of our team about getting involved and ask any questions you have.
The deadline to apply for these roles is 13 May 2018.
