John Baron MP hosts Britain Against Cancer Conference

Secretary of State for Health, his opposite number and the Cancer Tsar give keynote speeches

Today, the annual Britain Against Cancer Conference was held at Westminster House, next door to Parliament. The conference is organised by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Cancer [APPGC] and brings together key stakeholders across the NHS, including charities, who have an interest in cancer. This year was the largest conference ever with around 450 delegates attending from across the country.

The Rt. Hon.  Andrew Lansley MP [Secretary of State for Health], The Rt. Hon. John Healey MP [Shadow Secretary of State] and Professor Sir Mike Richards CBE [Cancer Tsar] all gave keynote speeches and took questions afterwards. John hosted the event and gave the opening speech as Chairman of the APPGC.

John said:

“The Government has essentially two big ideas to reform the NHS. The first is to focus more on outcomes – to measure just how well the NHS treats people. The second is to bring in GP commissioning so that patients are closer and therefore better treated by those who commission services on their behalf.”

“For a long time the APPGC has been campaigning for the introduction of a one year cancer survival measure in order to encourage earlier diagnosis – late diagnosis makes for poor one year survival rates. Its introduction is great news because for the first time we will be able to compare PCTs and task them to improve their performance.”

“A key concern however relates to how GPs are going to commission cancer services. Delegates were pleased to hear the Secretary of State say that cancer networks will have an important role in helping GP consortia get the best treatment for their patients.”