Shropshire & Mid Wales Cancer Forum
The Shropshire & Mid Wales Cancer Forum is a partnership between service users and service providers established with the objective of
"improving cancer services in Shropshire & Mid Wales"
Anyone interested is most welcome to attend our meetings. The Forum welcomes people whether they wish simply to listen, learn and discuss, or take an active part in the developing programme of work.
Current Work programme:
The Cancer Forum meets regularly to review its work and discuss information about developments in cancer service provision. The work programme focuses on:
- promoting best practice
- identifying issues of concern to cancer patients and carers
- encouraging members to take an active role in development of cancer services
- raising issues in partnership with Health Professionals on behalf of patients
Members of the Forum also serve as patient representatives on the Greater Midlands Cancer Network Patient Partnership, Network site specific groups (this is groups relating to a specific tumour site e.g. breast cancer, lung cancer,), operational and other related steering groups.
Some of our members come to the forum as representatives of their cancer support groups.
The forum is currently working on :
We’ve been busy producing new advertising materials, designing a poster to advertise free prescriptions for cancer patients, working with the breast care nurses to produce and print a booklet and working with the hospital to put in a bid for a Macmillan Cancer Information and support Centre at our Telford Hospital. We've received positive feedback from breast cancer patients regarding the ongoing care booklet, we've helped produce and which is now being given to all breast cancer patients on discharge from active treatment. Please contact us, if you want a copy or download it from this web site by following the link at the bottom of this page.
As we look into the future of the NHS and the ‘new world’ with GP consortia, we are preparing ourselves for the possible loss of the Cancer Networks. Our forum was running before it became part of the network and so we expect to continue, with or without the support of the network – we just have to become more independent. So we’ve bought ourselves a mobile phone, which we are taking turns to hold – you may well find if you call us you have to leave a message 07504 120315 and we will get back to you and our own e mail address. cancerforum@hotmail.co.uk. We’ve put these details on our new leaflets, which we are busy distributing. We’ve sent some to every GP practice and library in Telford and Shropshire, maybe you’ve seen them. We also had mugs printed and we hope the chemotherapy day unit and the haematology ward like them. Everything we print has our new message on YOUR experiences could influence cancer services.
We were very interested in the recent National Cancer Patient Experience Survey and wanted to get involved in making improvements to the service resulting from this. We picked up the question “where you told you were entitled to free prescriptions? “; to improve the awareness of this we have designed a poster which the hospital is putting up in many places. We have also sent one copy to each GP practice in Telford and Shropshire and asked them to put it up in the waiting room and one to every hospital in our area. If you want a copy to put up somewhere, you can download if from this web site.
Following our initiative the hospital have agreed there is a need for an information centre at the Telford hospital, while Shrewsbury is well supported with the Hamar Centre Telford has nothing. So we worked closely with the hospital to complete all the required paperwork. They are now working with Macmillan getting ready to submit a request for funding support to provide a Macmillan cancer information and support centre. We are very excited about this project and fingers crossed that we get the funding we will be looking for volunteers to help run it. Please contact us if you are interested.
We seem to have been really busy and I could fill another page, but I need to leave some room for the other groups. So in brief, we’ve also written to every secondary school in Telford and Shrewsbury sending them a copy of a Macmillan booklet “Let’s talk about you” – it’s a guide for young people caring for someone with cancer. If you have or know a child whose parent has cancer why not get a copy for them. And finally we are working on organising an audit of all the gynaecological patients who have had to travel for specialist surgery to another hospital. This only started on the 1st April and we are determined to make sure everything is working well for these patients.
If you are interested and you feel YOUR experiences could influence cancer services, why not give us a call or e mail us, we’d love to hear from you.
Sian Hallewell Chair
e mail: cancerforum@hotmail.co.uk
Tel: 07504 120315
Meeting Dates/Times/Location:
The group meets on the second Tuesday of every month, either at The Hamar Centre, Shrewsbury or the Princess Royal Hospital, Telford. Please contact the partnership facilitator Ann or Fiona on 01902 446810 to confirm the location and time. We always meet informally for half an hour prior to the formal start of the meeting to give members a chance to catch up in an informal and relaxed atmosphere over a cup of tea and a chance so say hello and welcome new members to our group.
Hamar Help and Support centre
Please follow the link below to visit the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals Hamar Help and Support Centre
Swimming after Surgery
Swimming After Surgery (SAS) is a local project in Shropshire to give ladies who have had breast cancer surgery a chance to regain their confidence by either refreshing their swimming skills or letting them learn new ones. The sessions are for an hour on a Wednesday evening from 6.30 - 7.30 pm at Short Wood Primary School, Limekiln Lane, Wellington TF1 2JA. Ladies are advised to telephone Fiona Smith on 01952 371941 or Mark Moore on 01952 382720 to book a place or find out further information.
The Princess Royal Hospital Haematology Support Group
The PRH Haematology Support Group has moved their meetings to the third Tuesday of the month at the Park Inn, Wellington, TF1 3AG. This support group offers support to cancer patients and their carers.
If you want to come along or know someone who does just turn up at the venue or call Liz Macdermott on 01952 276199 or Mrs Fiona Smith on 01952 371941"
Provision for People with Learning Disabilities at Shropshire & Telford
- The Shrewsbury & Telford Hospital Trust has a full time vulnerable adult’s lead who works across both sites supporting all staff with Safe Guarding/Mental Capacity Act and deprivation of liberty safeguards.
- The trust has a partnership arrangement with the South Staffordshire and Shropshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust’s learning disability service who provide a Health Access Nurse full time post; who has a clinical caseload of patients who are accessing or are inpatients at the hospital at the RSH site. This is mirrored at PRH with the learning disability service provide by Telford and Wrekin PCT. A link nurse group is facilitated at both sites by these post holders who meet every other month.
- Both the leaning disability services provide a regular session of mandatory training to the maternity services as part of their mandatory training update. There is plan under way to roll training out across the wider Trust once Management of Change is complete.
- The hospital has a leaning disability page on its intranet where staff can access a host of information on learning disability, access to easy read information and the hospital communication book. The learning disability service has produced easy read information on “What is Cancer” treatments for cancer, “What is a Macmillan Nurse” and “What is Palliative Care” available via the hospital intranet for staff or via www.easyhealth.org.uk.
- The hospital communication book has been printed by the SaTH and a laminated copy given to all clinical areas this year
- There is a carers bleep in theatre north (day surgery unit) recovery (RSH)for use when pts go into theatre and carers can be contacted once in recovery
- There is a Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Steering Group which are working on the above and have reviewed the “Guidelines for the care of a person with a learning disability when in Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital” which is out for consultation now. This has seen the development of a Shropshire wide hospital /patient passport in line with the Mencap “Getting it Right” campaign.
Shropshire and Mid Wales Cancer Forum Leaflet
Shropshire and Mid Wales Cancer Forum Free prescription Poster