Publish date: 19 March 2024
More than 200 delegates attended the first Cheshire and Merseyside Cancer Alliance conference to discuss how to improve cancer services.
Staff from all areas of cancer care in the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors joined patient advocates and representatives from charities and voluntary groups at the day-long CMCA Cancer Conference 24 in Liverpool.
Guest speakers included David Fitzgerald, NHS England’s Director – Policy and Strategy, who outlined the successes and improvements in cancer care across Cheshire and Merseyside while acknowledging there was still work to do, especially in some areas of the region with particular challenges.
Professor Rowan Prichard Jones, Executive Medical Director at NHS Cheshire and Merseyside, spoke about the future of cancer care and how CMCA was well placed to tackle the growing incidence of the disease as our population ages.
The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre’s Kate Lacey, Macmillan Cancer Support Metastatic Spinal Cord Compression Service Lead, gave a presentation of the pioneering work her unit has been doing to extend the life of patients and improve their experience while being treated.
Speakers from the Cancer Alliance included Senior Responsible Officer Liz Bishop, who opened the conference at The Spine, and outgoing CMCA Medical Director, Dr Chris Warburton, who detailed his own and Cheshire and Merseyside’s journey in improving lung cancer care.
CMCA Managing Director Jon Hayes hosted the event and took the opportunity to thank former Cancer Alliance Board member Councillor Tony Murphy with a Special Recognition Award for his decades of service as a patient representative and patient advocate.
The conference included workshops on various topics including psychosocial support for cancer patients; transforming lower GI cancer pathways; retaining the cancer workforce; embedding genomics in cancer pathways; community personalised care; tackling health inequalities; gynae-oncology service improvement and cancer performance in the region.
There was an exhibition of research-style posters explaining cancer-related projects from teams across the region, and charity and VSCO organisations hosted stalls promoting their activities.
Jon Hayes said: “This was our first cancer conference and it was a wonderful event, with people from all areas of cancer care coming together to share our successes and engage in a collective debate on how we can improve cancer services, treatment and care across our population.
“Not only did we all draw inspiration from our guest speakers and experts leading our individual breakout workshops, but we forged new relationships with colleagues from healthcare organisations right across Cheshire and Merseyside.”
Jon added: “I would like to thank everyone who attended or contributed to a wonderful day.”
