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Achieving improvements in lung cancer survival means shaping health policy to make sure that lung cancer – and the needs of lung cancer patients – is at its heart.
The UKLCC works with parliamentarians across all parties to keep lung cancer issues on the health agenda. By raising questions in parliament, and regularly briefing politicians on the latest challenges and success in tackling lung cancer, we keep the disease under close political scrutiny and front of mind for policy-makers.The UKLCC is supported by many politicians, with a commitment to ensure that messages about lung cancer - especially the signs and symptoms of the disease - reach their constituents. We work especially closely with a small group of ‘lung cancer champions’ who host events for us, help generate parliamentary debate and visit lung cancer centres to see cancer services for themselves. These lung cancer champions are:
| Rt Hon Frank Dobson MP | (Labour, Holborn & St Pancras) | |
| Anne Milton MP | (Conservative, Guildford) | |
| Robert Wilson MP | (Conservative, Reading East) | |
| Sir Peter Soulsby MP | (Labour, Leicester South) | |
| John Leech MP | (Liberal Democrat, Manchester Withington) | |
| John Battle MP | (Leeds West) | |
| Sharon Hodgson MP | (Labour, Gateshead East & Washington West) | |
| Jo Swinson MP | (Liberal Democrat, East Dunbartonshire) | |
| Madeleine Moon MP | (Labour, Bridgend) | |
| Mark Durkan MP | (SDLP, Foyle) | |
| Dr Alasdair McDonnell MP | (SDLP, Belfast South) |
The UKLCC will be working with the Parliamentary Lung Cancer Champions to facilitate visits to leading lung cancer centres, meet with key lung cancer experts and lung cancer patients, and help generate Parliamentary debate and local media interest on lung cancer issues.
If you are a Member of Parliament and would like to become a Lung Cancer Champion, please email uklcc@blf-uk.org or contact Sarah Lee on 020 3128 8133.
Supporting the National Lung Cancer Audit
The UKLCC has written to MPs to let them know that the annual National Lung Cancer Audit is taking place. The UKLCC believes the audit is a vital tool to help us understand the variations across the country and ensure that all services come up to the standards of the best. We have asked MPs to encourage their local hospitals to take part in the audit. We have also written to leaders of strategic health authorities and cancer networks for their support. We hope this will result in more hospitals taking part in the audit this year and so making more comprehensive information available to accurately reflect the situation in England.
Influencing the Cancer Reform Strategy
The UKLCC welcomed the announcement of the Cancer Reform Strategy, which sets out the Government’s commitment to cancer services over the next decade. The UKLCC fed into the development of a White Paper by the Cancer Campaigning Group, which was a valuable source of information and ideas for the policy-makers developing the Strategy. We were pleased to see that many of the initiatives we had called for were included in the Strategy, and will now campaign to make sure they are translated into practice.
Working with specialist nurses
The role of specialist nurses in supporting people with lung cancer and their families is crucial. They are there from the point of diagnosis, to answer questions, provide advice and make sure that patients’ experience of care is the best it can be. The UKLCC believes that every lung cancer patient should have access to a lung cancer specialist nurse, and is concerned that there are severe shortages and variations in numbers of nurses across the country. To raise awareness of this, the UKLCC hosted a seminar in Westminster for a number of specialist nurses and patients to meet MPs. This year, campaigning for better access to specialist nurses remains a key focus of our activity.
Working with pharmacists
Pharmacists have an increasingly important role to play in helping to raise awareness of lung cancer signs and symptoms. To support Lung Cancer Awareness Month, the UKLCC developed a toolkit for pharmacists to use to help them secure support from local MPs for their awareness-raising work. A number of pharmacists across England used the toolkit and held successful photocalls and meetings with MPs, generating press coverage and helping to get the lung cancer message out to the public. You can download the toolkit here.
How pharmacies can support
Lung Cancer Awareness Month
Briefing for Lung Cancer Awareness Month
November 2007
MP Invite
MP Thanks
Press invite
Press Release
© UKLCC 2006