In September 2019, Rachel Power, Chair of All.Can UK and Chief Executive of the Patients Association, spoke on behalf of All.Can at the Westminster Health Forum’s 2019 seminar ‘Cancer care in England – access to treatment, improving diagnosis and implementing the NHS Long Term Plan’.11
During her speech and subsequent panel appearance, Rachel stressed that the patient voice should be central to service design; indeed, every single decision about a person’s care should be delivered in a way that meets their personal needs. For this reason, improvements to the diagnosis pathway must be led by engagement with patients and an understanding their experiences.
Quality Health also featured and discussed results of All.Can’s patient survey alongside the National Cancer Patient Experience Survey. Importantly, All.Can’s patient survey covered the entire patient pathway, from diagnosis through to the support received by patients during their treatment and beyond. Strikingly, 2 in 5 respondents said their cancer was misdiagnosed either initially or multiple times and 1 in 5 people with cancer had to wait for more than six months to be diagnosed with cancer.8
This was a significant opportunity for All.Can UK to raise awareness of the survey’s findings and generate consensus about the need to refocus efforts relating to service design so that they can be improved in the best interests of patients