Major cancer summit | News and events

Cancer teams, patients and local people from across Cambridgeshire, Peterborough and Royston are taking a key role in a groundbreaking Cancer Summit next week.

The East of England Cancer Summit to be held on Wednesday 18 September and will feature top national speakers including the country’s leading cancer specialist, Professor Peter Johnson, NHS England’s National Clinical Director for Cancer. Specialist team members will be attending from local hospitals and community settings along with patients, carers and representatives from cancer charities and support groups.

The aim of the all-day event is to celebrate and share success while mapping opportunities and improvements for the future, in line with the NHS Long Term Plan and East of England Cancer Strategy.

Kate Hopcraft, Director of Performance and Delivery at Cambridgeshire & Peterborough, ICS, said: “We are pleased to be taking part so that we can share the excellent work taking place locally and to learn more about latest developments for patients and the growing number of people who rely on our cancer services. “The Cancer Summit represents a major opportunity for us to showcase local excellence such as the Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital and CUHFT work around urology cancers including a One stop Kidney Cancer diagnostic clinic and a prostate cancer prognostic tools model.”

Professor Johnson said: “The Cancer Summit is a great opportunity to take a look at cancer services across the East of England, to review progress and see where we can go further and faster by working together. I am looking forward to meeting people from across the region, to hear their experiences and challenges, and to set out our national priorities for the future.”

Professor Johnson will join a discussion panel with East of England Cancer Alliance  representatives Professor Peter Hoskin, Clinical Director; Dr Peter Holloway, GP lead; Lindsey Cook, interim co-chair of the Patient Partnership Group and Amanda Pleavin, Managing Director, and Kathy Nelson, head of the Cancer Network for Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care Board.

  Workshops will be hosted throughout the day by expert teams from across the region, including the new Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital, Health Innovation East and NHS England Cancer Screening. Lindsey Cook, interim co-chair of the East of England Cancer Alliance Patient Partnership Group, said: “We are delighted to be part of such a major event that puts patients and the experiences of local people at the heart of the agenda.

“We hope that the day will carve out some clear learning, sharing and a vision for the future so that even more people will want to get involved in making things better for all those who have a cancer diagnosis in our region, and those who support them.”

Overseeing the day will be Adam Cayley, NHS England’s chief regional operating officer for the East of England, with special responsibility for cancer services.