Maggie’s submits recommendations on NHS reform to government

As part of the Department of Health and Social Care's development of a 10-Year Health Plan for the NHS, we carried out engagement sessions at nine of our centres around England: Southampton, Royal Marsden, Oxford, Cambridge, Leeds, Wirral, Newcastle, West London, and the Royal Free.

Attended by people who had been affected by cancer and who were current or former visitors to a Maggie's centre, conversations explored three main areas: community care, technology, and prevention. 

Everyone who took part were full of praise and gratitude for the NHS and the excellent cancer treatment they'd received, but some clear themes emerged about how they felt the health service could change for the better. 

First and foremost, people want the NHS to get the basics right, including making it easier for patients to make GP appointments and access their own medical records. 

Many people also think there should be better digital join-up across the NHS so healthcare professionals in different areas of the country can all view a patient's health information.

On the issue of prevention, many of our centre visitors were keen that screening programmes be expanded in the context of more young people developing cancer. 

People also want to see advice and information on healthy lifestyles continuing to be issued and new treatments and therapies rolled out across the NHS as quickly as possible.

Additionally, we asked our participants what they thought the NHS could learn from Maggie's. People were clear that it was the kindness and compassion of the staff, combined with the calming and therapeutic space that our centres offer, which make such a difference. 

One individual said: “People come to Maggie's to get out of the clinical environment. It helps you relax. When you walk in, you feel as if you walk into a warm bath. People are here who care and it’s a very caring and nurturing environment.”

The insight and ideas gathered from centre visitors formed the basis of our recommendations to the government's 10-Year Health Plan. 

Our recommendations included:

• Get the basics right — Invest in improving access to GP and primary care.
• Ensure proper resourcing — Any expansion of community care must be properly resourced with enough staff trained at the right level. Community care should not be seen as a cut-price alternative to acute care.

• Include organisations like Maggie’s — Look at how organisations like Maggie’s can be part of the NHS pathway.

• Invest in IT and data systems — Join up IT and data systems across the NHS to allow clinicians and those working in the NHS to access a patient’s record in acute, primary, and community care.

• Ensure consistent use of IT platforms — End the situation where a patient is communicated to via three or four different methods from the same healthcare provider.

• Expand screening programs — Include younger age groups in screening programs and ensure future training for GPs and clinical staff builds in an understanding that more younger people are being diagnosed with cancer.

The government has committed to publishing it's 10-Year Health Plan for the NHS in spring this year.