Emma attended the conference hosted by the NCSI (National Cancer Survivorship Initiative) in London.
The NCSI is a partnership between Macmillan Cancer Support, The Department of Health and NHS Improvement. Their website says:
‘The aim of the NCSI is to ensure that those living with and beyond cancer get the care and support they need to lead as healthy and active a life as possible, for as long as possible.’
The conference was a great chance to meet up with other health advocates alongside catching up with the work and aims of the NCSI.
There were presentations from Ciaran Devane, Chief Exec of Macmillan and a chance to ask questions of both Ciaran and Prof Sir Mike Richards, National Clinical Director for cancer and end of life care.
Emma said ‘ The workshops and presentations were interesting in that we learnt about projects that are ongoing and the impact they can have on patients, however it wasn’t clear to me how these recommendations and findings are rolled out across the UK. It is encouraging that there appears to be a lot of work under way focussed on ‘survivorship’ and it is vital that this work is spread out to people who really need it…. patients across the UK. I believe our role as patient advocates is to encourage that to happen’
To find out more about the role and work of the NCSI, take a look at their website: http://www.ncsi.org.uk/
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