All Party Parliamentary Group on Cancer - a message from Dr Ian Gibson (Chairman)(written 2005)
The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Cancer was established in 1998 to keep cancer high on the political agenda; to campaign for excellence and
equity in cancer care; to monitor implementation of government initiatives on cancer; and to ensure that policy affecting cancer services is
evidence-based and patient-centred.
The Group is comprised of MPs and peers from the main political parties in parliament who share a particular interest in cancer. The full list of
members can be found on the parliamentary website. The Group has four officers. I am chair of the Group and John Baron MP, Sandra Gidley MP and Dr
Richard Taylor MP are vice chairs.
CancerBACUP provides secretariat services to the Group. The Group also works in partnership with a range of organisations through a stakeholders
group, which meets regularly to support the work and help plan the future work of the Group. In addition to a stakeholders group, a larger and wider
stakeholders meeting takes place at the annual Britain Against Cancer conference organised and hosted by the Group. At this wider stakeholder
meeting, anybody with an interest in cancer can participate and put forward clear proposals and ideas the Group can contribute suggestions for the
work of the Group.
The Group plays an important role in ensuring that people affected by cancer and those with an interest in the issue can express their concerns and
persuade parliamentarians raise these issues in Westminster.
Since 1998, the Group has held regular meetings on a number of issues including the implementation of NICE guidance, children and teenagers with
cancer, cancer nursing, public health white paper and cancer genetics.
I regularly table questions and early day motions (EDMs) and participate in relevant debates based on discussions I have with various organisations
and charities.
Last year the Group held a select-committee style inquiry in to national standards and local decision-making and the implications these two policies
had on cancer services in England. The Group received written submissions and held three oral sessions. The report was launched in October, stating
that lack of experience and expertise at local level was hindering purchasing of cancer drugs, equipment and services and that the current funding
system had "worrying implications" for cancer services, exacerbating "postcode prescribing". The report made a number of recommendations including
allocating budgets for cancer services directly to cancer networks and encouraging primary care trusts to collaboratively commission where
possible.
The Group also hosts the Britain Against Cancer conference that takes place in the latter half of the year. In 2004, the Secretary of State for
Health - John Reid - announced the roll out of the bowel cancer screening programme and in 2003, Melanie Johnson, Minister with responsibility for
cancer announced the introduction of liquid base cytology for cervical smears.
The one-day conference attracts a range of stakeholders including patients, carers, charity representatives, health care professionals, researchers
and healthcare industry groups. The day begins with a plenary session with keynote speakers and a set of breakout sessions in the morning and
afternoon discuss various issues reflecting the key issues in current cancer policy.
Dr Ian Gibson MP
Chairman
All Party Parliamentary Group on Cancer
Dr Gibson was Dean of the School of Biological Sciences at the University of East Anglia, in Norwich, when Bryan Gunn's Appeal was founded, and
was a great supporter and encourager of the Appeal. Under his guidance the Francesca Gunn Laboratory was established in 1995, and the good work of the lab
in research continues today, under the supervision of Prof Dylan Edwards, with grants from major research funders, and local charities such as the Big C
Appeal, making UEA a world-class research establishment.
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