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The 12th annual Britain Against Cancer conference, hosted by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Cancer (APPGC), took place on 14 December in Church House, Westminster.
The conference provided a unique opportunity for people with an interest in cancer to come together to share ideas, network and to discuss the most pressing issues in cancer policy today. This year’s conference looked at the impact of the Government’s proposed health reforms on cancer services.
John Baron talks about the progress made in tackling cancer inequalities.
In the morning session, delegates heard from the chair of the APPGC, John Baron MP, who launched, Tackling Cancer Inequalities – one year on|. He summarised the progress made in tackling cancer inequalities since last year’s Britain Against Cancer and set out the next steps which the APPGC want to see implemented to further reduce inequality in cancer outcomes and experience.
View John Baron’s presentation here.|
John also set out the challenges and opportunities, which the refreshed Cancer Reform Strategy and the Government’s wider health reforms pose. John asked conference delegates to vote for the health reform which they thought would most likely improve cancer services. Choosing between: the information revolution, the focus on outcomes, patient choice over healthcare provider and GP commissioning. The vast majority of delegates believed the Government’s focus on outcomes was most likely to improve services.
Andrew Lansley makes new policy announcements.
Conference delegates also heard from other speakers of the highest calibre, including: the Secretary of State for Health, Andrew Lansley MP; the Shadow Health Minister, John Healey MP; and the National Cancer Director, Professor Sir Mike Richards.
The Health Secretary used the opportunity to make many new policy announcements. He confirmed that the National Cancer Patient Experience Survey would continue to play an important role in the assessment of providers, that GPs would have greater access to diagnostics tests and that the expertise of cancer networks would be maintained as the NHS transitions to the system of GP commissioning.
The Shadow Secretary of State stated that he was proud of Labour’s track record in cancer and that, going forward, where possible he would seek to work with the Government on areas of consensus.
Professor Sir Mike Richards gives his assessment of the year.
The National Cancer Director, Professor Sir Mike Richards, also gave his assessment of the year.
Throughout the day many delegates expressed concern over some aspects of the Government’s health reforms, particularly GP commissioning. Delegates were given the opportunity to share their concerns and ideas on the APPGC's ideas charts.|
The group will also work throughout 2011 to encourage the Government and other relevant organisations to fully implement the recommendations from the report, Tackling cancer inequalities – one year on|.
Six breakout sessions, lead by experts in their fields, were held throughout the course of the day. Each session looked at the impact of the refreshed Cancer Reform Strategy and the Government’s wider health reforms.
You can find notes and presentations from the speakers on the links below:
The All Party Parliamentary Group on Cancer would like to thank the supporters of the Britain Against Cancer 2010 Conference. All have a medical expertise and commercial interest in cancer, but had no involvement in the programme of the conference:
AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Celgene, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKlein, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi-aventis, Sanofi-Pasteur MSD.