The region’s first ever Cancer Summit heard directly from clinicians, patients, supporters, innovators and NHS leaders on the challenges and opportunities ahead as the numbers of people being treated for cancer continue to increase.
Nearly 300 delegates heard a wide range of speakers including Professor Peter Johnson, NHS England’s Clinical Director for Cancer, and Ceinwen Giles, co-chief executive of the national cancer support charity, Shine, followed by questions and answers with an expert panel, including patient representatives.
The aim of the event, organised by the East of England Cancer Alliance, was to:
- Look to the future regarding workforce, technological, diagnostic and treatment innovations, plus new ways of working
- Identify key strategic priorities for the next 12 to 18 months to deliver the East of England Cancer Strategy
- Celebrate and share good practice
- Connect people across many different sectors supporting cancer care
The Summit opening address was given by Professor Peter Johnson, NHS England’s Clinical Director For Cancer, who outlined the national programme priorities and highlighted areas of progress in the region, such as the success of FIT (faecal immunochemical testing) to prioritise those at highest risk of bowel cancer, and advances in teledermatology to target those with suspected skin cancer. He also praised work across the region including Norfolk and Waveney's community pharmacy programme.
This was followed by a powerful patient story from Ceinwen Giles, who is CEO at Shine Cancer Support, a charity supporting adults in their 20s to 40s with cancer. Ceinwen is a patient advocate whose work in this sector was preceded by her diagnosis of stage four non-Hodgkin lymphoma six weeks after her daughter was born prematurely.
The speakers joined a panel for a lively Q&A session with East of England Cancer Alliance leads Professor Peter Hoskin, Clinical Director; Dr Peter Holloway, GP lead; Lindsey Cook, interim co-chair of the Patient Partnership Group; Amanda Pleavin, Managing Director, and Kathy Nelson, head of the Cancer Network for Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care Board.
Workshops were hosted throughout the day by expert teams from across the region, including the planned Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital, Health Innovation East and NHS England Cancer Screening.
Lindsey Cook, interim co-chair of the Cancer Alliance's Patient Partnership Group, led one of the main stage presentations on Understanding Co-production, where patients are involved in the design and delivery of NHS services from the outset.
She said: "The Cancer Summit was a resounding success, achieving its goal of bringing together diverse voices from across the region to focus on real, actionable improvements in cancer care. What stood out most to me was the collaborative spirit all aligning on the need for integrated cancer approaches that prioritise early diagnosis, treatment and patient involvement. For the Cancer Alliance, the key takeaway is the importance of maintaining this momentum, ensuring that patient voices remain central to the strategy as it continues to refine the vision. Moving forward, I’m excited to see how the relationships and ideas formed at the Cancer Summit will drive forward cancer excellence across the East of England."
Workshops were held by Integrated Care Board teams from across the region – Norfolk and Waveney; Cambridgeshire and Peterborough; Hertfordshire and West Essex; Suffolk and North East Essex; Mid and South Essex and Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes, showcasing innovation and opportunities for the future.
Other key participants were Innovation East, highlighting healthcare opportunities for the future, and the Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital, showcasing how the planned future hospital will benefit the region, with patient involvement from the outset.
Dr Peter Holloway, a GP in Suffolk, chairs the East of England Cancer Alliance Primary Care Group and took part throughout the day. He said: “The summit highlighted the importance of increasing awareness of cancer symptoms and encouraging people to come forward earlier, whilst ensuring they have access to primary care and smooth onward pathways.
“Increasing community diagnostic capacity and availability of testing will be crucial in improving early diagnosis.”
The event was hosted by Adam Cayley, NHS East of England’s Regional Senior Responsible Officer For Cancer. He said: “We are hugely grateful to all who attended for making the Cancer Summit so valuable in terms of examining where we are now and the best ways to work together on real improvements, from early diagnosis through to treatment and aftercare, that we can set in motion straight away.
“We will be evaluating further to see what can be learned and how we can continue to build the tremendous connections, partnerships and ideas we saw on the day.”
Latest developments in cancer care and support were showcased by a wide range of stalls hosted by NHS and charity teams: Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital; Cancer Support Suffolk; Children’s and Young Adult Cancer Operational Delivery Group for the East of England; Compassionate Companions; East of England Genomic Practitioners; Macmillan Cancer Navigators (East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust and James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust); A digital solution for prehabilitation: East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust; Mount Vernon Cancer Centre; Mouth Cancer Foundation; NHS England Screening and Immunisation Team; OUTpatients; Radiotherapy Operational Delivery Network; Salivary Gland Cancer UK and Suffolk GP Federation’s Very Important Invitation.
GPs and hospitals across the East of England are seeing the highest ever numbers of patients referred on urgent suspected cancer pathways, with an average of 30,000 patients receiving a diagnosis or ruling out cancer every single month across all the region's hospital trusts.
Over the last year (April 2023 – March 2024), almost a quarter of a million people in the East of England (247,878) received a cancer diagnosis or had cancer ruled out by the NHS within four weeks.
Outcomes from the Cancer Summit will be taken forward in an update to the East of England Cancer Strategy, published in September 2022. www.canceralliance.co.uk/strategy