APPG ON CANCER HOSTS 2016 ‘BRITAIN AGAINST CANCER’ CONFERENCE

6th DECEMBER, 9.00am ONWARDS AT CENTRAL HALL, WESTMINSTER

APPG ON CANCER WELCOMES KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

On Tuesday (6th December) the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Cancer (APPGC) will be hosting one of the largest annual cancer conferences in the UK, ‘Britain Against Cancer’. Now in its 18th year, the conference welcomes high profile speakers including the Chief Executive of NHS England, Simon Stevens, the newly appointed Community Health and Care Minister, David Mowat MP and the Shadow Secretary of State for Health, Jonathan Ashworth MP.

Britain Against Cancer attracts over 400 attendees from across the cancer community including NHS representatives, clinicians, patients, Parliamentarians, charities, and commercial organisations. Along with an extensive exhibition showcasing new and innovative cancer tools, delegates will hear from experts as part of a panel discussion on issues including accountability and how to deliver change at a local level. There will also be a series of breakout sessions on a variety of topics including; earlier diagnosis, workforce, patient data, secondary cancers and many more.

This year’s conference will focus on how the cancer community can work together to deliver improved cancer outcomes for people affected by cancer. Key issues will include the APPGC’s three principal recommendations as outlined in their recent report following an inquiry into progress made since the implementation of the England Cancer Strategy [available online at: http://www.macmillan.org.uk/documents/appgc/appgc-inquiry-report-september-2016.pdf].

John Baron MP, Chairman of the APPGC since 2009, said:

“The Officers of the APPGC and I look forward to hosting our annual ‘Britain Against Cancer’ conference. In an increasingly fragmented NHS, the conference brings together hundreds of delegates from across the country, to debate and discuss cancer issues, to network and to hear directly from experts and our keynote speakers.”

“In particular, I will be making the point at this year’s Conference that there continues to be no shortage of NHS ‘process targets’. Assessing the NHS’ performance of ‘two week waits’ and other such processes has its uses, but has not narrowed the gap with international averages when it comes to survival rates. This is best delivered by relentlessly focusing on outcome measures, such as the number of patients who survive at least one year from diagnosis, which directly benefit patients. The APPGC has focused hard on this area in recent years, but there is much more work to be done.”

Notes to Editors:

• Britain Against Cancer will run from 9.00am onwards on Tuesday, 6th December at Central Hall, Westminster. John Baron MP will deliver the opening speech at 10.00am, and a full programme of the day’s events is available at: https://goo.gl/oc4XUf.
• For further information, please contact Ayesha Ahmed on aahmed@macmillan.org.uk.