The additional information is aimed at teenager/young adult cancer patients and also for staff who work in the field.

Please visit http://www.uhbristol.nhs.uk/tya for more information.

Evidence to Support Cancer Rehabilitation

“So does rehabilitation work?” That is the question posed frequently and rightly so in the current climate of financial stringency and focus on proof of outcomes. To answer that question, the National Cancer Rehabiliation Advisory Board (NCRAB) has undertaken two pieces of work which aim to illustrate areas of impact and cost effectiveness. The first is the Cancer & Palliative Care Rehabilitation Review of the Evidence published in January 2012 and the second the ‘Cancer Care Toolkit. How AHPs improve patient care and save the NHS money’ launched March 2012. This web based information, produced jointly by NCAT with NHS London and DH, highlights key facts about cancer rehabilitation and associated cost savings.

The Evidence Review

This brings together a range of current available evidence relating to the effectiveness of interventions delivered by Allied Health Professionals in relation to cancer and palliative care. As well as highlighting where good quality research supports rehabilitation interventions the document also includes references and assessment toolshe current review complements an earlier review published in 2009 and these two pieces of work bring together a which can be used to inform clinical practice and service developments. the particular focus of the new review are skin and haematological cancers and sarcoma evidence to support other cancer carte pathways is also updated. The reviews can be accessed on the following links:

http://ncat.nhs.uk/sites/default/files/NCAT_Rehab_EvidenceReview__2012FINAL24_1_12.pdf

http://ncat.nhs.uk/sites/default/files/NCAT_Rehab_EvidenceReview.pdf

Cancer Care Toolkit. How AHPs improve patient care and save the NHS money.

Launched in March 2012, this web based information, produced jointly by NCAT with NHS London and DH, highlights key facts about cancer rehabilitation and associated cost savings. It is aimed at commissioners and service managers and pulls together key facts about cancer rehab and costs where early intervention can save money. Good, timely rehabilitation can promote and sustain recovery and help people manage consequences of cancer treatments but a referral to rehab is often made too late when the problem is complex and more costly to treat. A good example of this is lymphoedema. Early referral for lymphoedema care following surgery for breast, head and neck, gynae and prostate cancers can help people be aware of symptoms and facilitate early referral for treatment. For every £1 spent on lymphoedema treatments, £100 is spent on reduced hospital admissions.

Nutrition is a key part of a cancer patients care pathway but often a referral to a dietitian is made too late. Patients undergoing surgery for cancer are often malnourished resulting in slower recovery from surgery. A 5 day reduction in length of stay, from 15 – 10 days as a result of minimising malnutrition provides an annual saving of £266 million.

All information and referrences are available on the NCAT website. For more information please contact jackie.turnpenney@ncat.nhs.uk

It’s five years since World Child Cancer was founded by ICCCPO in 2007. Thank you so much to all the groups and individuals who have helped us during that time with either financial support, advice & guidance or parent support group mentoring. You may be interested to know that ICCCPO contributed 23% of World Child Cancer’s donations income last year. Your support is helping us to run nine operational projects (see map below), develop new projects, raise awareness and develop sustainable income streams. Thank-you!

Vision Workshop with the Boards of World Child Cancer and ICCCOPO (28 March).

In March the Boards of World Child Cancer and ICCCPO came together to discuss the future direction of the charity and how we can expand our reach and increase our impact.The participants were asked to consider how World Child Cancer can go from helping 1,000 children a year to 20,000. Project selection, governance, fundraising, awareness, lobbying & advocacy and sustainability were discussed. The session raised more questions than it answered but it was a good starting point.One result of the workshop was that the Boards of ICCCPO and World Child Cancer would like to develop a closer working relationship including more involvement in the projects. We’ll keep you posted on how the vision and the partnership develops.

ICCCPO European Meeting (13-15 April).
Jo Hopkins gave a presentation to European ICCCPO groups at the Luxembourg meeting in April. We were treated to some wonderful sunshine and a tasting of some delicious Luxembourg wines. The focus of the presentation was on the achievements and impact of World Child Cancer and also some of the challenges we have faced. The presentation also provided an update on the ‘Vision Workshop’ and included an interactive session on how we could develop a closer partnership between the two organisations.It was also an opportunity to personally thank representatives from groups in the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Italy and Germany who have supported our work in the last 12 months.
www.worldchildcancer.org Registered UK charity no. 1120321

It was subsequently agreed that the support pack should be an integral part of the Cancer Commissioning Toolkit and that it should be made up of three key elements namely:

• A set of key messages for commissioners on cancer services
• A set of service profiles for different tumour types, providing commissioners with information that they would want to know before making commissioning decisions in relation to a particular provider
• A set of model service specifications which describe what a good service should look like.

In conjunction with commissioners, cancer networks and other key stakeholders, NCAT has now developed key messages for commissioners for cancer services. These set out, in a brief and accessible format, key issues and information for cancer commissioners, e.g. about the scope for improving quality and productivity through new approaches to inpatient care. These messages are being disseminated by a variety of means, including the cancer networks and are available on the NCAT website at www.ncat.nhs.uk.

Service profiles have now been developed for breast and colorectal cancer services. Those profiles went live on 16th December 2011 and are accessible via the Cancer Commissioning Toolkit (www.cancertoolkit.co.uk). Further work on refining these profiles will be completed before development work is undertaken on profiles for other tumour types.

With regard to the development of service specifications, progress has been made in drafting specifications for a number of specialist services and for breast and colorectal cancer.

Work is also underway to restructure the Cancer Commissioning Toolkit so it is more closely aligned with the new NHS and so it is fit for purpose as an appropriate home for the cancer commissioning support pack. In terms of next steps, there is a need to consider how the ambition for providing commissioning support for cancer services, as described in the IOSC, can contribute to and support the realisation of the vision for commissioning support set out in the NHSCB: publication “Developing Commissioning Support: Towards Service Excellence” (02/02/12). Stephen Parsons

Director
NCAT
21 March 2012

The closing date is 5:00pm on Wednesday 9th May 2012.

Together we will make the Declaration of Youth with Cancer rights for young people with cancer all over the world addressing issues such as: treatments, priorities and health policies.

We will share the joy of living support uicc.org oicccpo.org Guests: youth with cancer and survivors between the ages of 17 and 30 years.

For our guests: Registration, accommodation and all meals will be included for free

Young people of limited economic resources to apply for scholarships

Quito-Ecuador
www.jovenescontraelcancer.org
Saludos Cordiales,
Dr. Gustavo Dávila
Director General
Jóvenes Contra El Cáncer Del Ecuador
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Fundacion-Jovenes-Contra-el-Cancer/467708815033

The Chancellor announced measures including sector-specific reviews of regulation from next month, with volunteer events being in the first tranche of reviews.

Around 1,500 regulations had been examined in the Red Tape Challenge, the Chancellor advised, with over half identified as needing to be scrapped or improved.

The coalition also announced that it aims to scrap or improve 84 per cent of health and safety regulation, including measures taken in 2012, “so that ‘strict liability’ provisions in health and safety law will no longer hold employers to be in breach of their duties when they have done everything that is reasonably practicable and foreseeable to protect their employees”.

We are pleased to announce that Donna’s Dream House has now been re-opened after the arson attack before Christmas. We are still some way off being fully operational as our new reception and office cabin is due to be delivered this week and we hope to have the majority of work completed by 31^st March. New referrals can now be forwarded to us to commence after that date.

Due to the arson attack we have lost the majority of our contacts and booking information, so if you know of any bookings or referral agencies then please can you pass these onto us at lencurtis@donnasdreamhouse.co.uk

Over £120,000 has been spent on the refurbishment and rebuild making the dream bigger and better.

Thank you to all those who have offered help, support and kind words during this difficult time.

Kind Regards

Len Curtis MBE

The holidays are:

Dukes Barn, Matlock, Derbyshire
Friday 1st – Monday 4th June 2012
Ages 7-11 Years

New Barn Field Centre, Dorchester, Dorset
Saturday 18th – Saturday 25th August 2012
Ages 5-17 Years (Split into age groups)

Bendrigg Trust, Kendal, Cumbria
Friday 19th – Monday 22nd October 2012
Ages 12+ Years

If people want leaflets can they contact Camp Quality UK and they will get them out to them ASAP

Contact:

Delyth Thomas
Child Recruitment Officer
Camp Quality UK
"free to be you"
E: delyth@campquality.org.uk 

The closing date for applications is 28^th May.

Application: http://form.jotformpro.com/form/12560600521