No sooner than we had recovered from our trip to Liverpool we found ourselves travelling north again, this time to Manchester for the Labour Party Conference.
On Sunday evening Beth and I attended the Care Reception at the Midland hotel. There is a huge amount of speculation surrounding the effects of the new Health White Paper on the NHS, particularly the role of GP commissioning and the disbanding of PCTs. However, equally important is the debate surrounding the future of social care. Many organisations at the reception were worried that there would be cuts to social care which would put a strain on the services that many people, including people affected by cancer, rely on.
This despite the fact that every £1 spent on social care can save anything between £1.25 -£25 in the long run from things such as unneeded a long hospital admission, as was mentioned during a fringe on whether health care reform could not only save money but also lives.
Macmillan knows that this can be the case from its own research on end of life care for terminally ill cancer patients. Given the choice individuals would prefer to have the support from community nurses to die at home. However, less than 50% of PCTs currently provide 24/7 access to care. This can lead to an unnecessary and costly admission to hospital in the middle of the night. To find out more about Macmillan’s calls for access to 24/7 community nursing visit our website http://www.macmillan.org.uk/GetInvolved/Campaigns/EndofLife.aspx
The main event for us on Monday was our second fringe of conference season. Again with the help of Breast Cancer Care and The Prostate Cancer Charity we explored the future of aftercare and post treatment support for cancer patients. What I found most interesting was the debate initiated by members of the audience. Many talked about the need for greater emotional support, especially after they have finished their treatment and have begun to go about their life as they had before their diagnoses. On the panel was Stuart, who talked about his experiences of the system having recently been treated for prostate cancer. He argued that there is huge value in investing in peer based support for people affected by cancer. It is an area that many people in the room thought was currently underused and arguably would save the health service money.
As well as blogging, we have been live tweeting from our fringe events. We really want you to be involved even if you can’t be here in the room with us. Follow the conversation at #Cancerfringe to find out what is being said at our final debate next week.
This evening’s highlight is the Health Hotel Debate and Reception. Having supported people affected by cancer whilst in Government, as well as making the NHS the key issue of his leadership campaign, I am in no doubt that Andy Burnham MP will receive a warm welcome from the audience.
