By Luke Newman, Senior Account Executive (Kapler Communications - Our Sister Company)
On May 9 2005, my Mum, Jen Newman took her last breath after a
brave 19 month battle against ovarian cancer. She was diagnosed with the
‘Silent Killer’ in October 2003 and went through three different courses of
chemotherapy before the disease spread, in the form of cancerous cells, to her
stomach.
As the fifth most common cancer among women in the UK, and one of
the hardest cancers to detect, ovarian cancer has raised particular challenges
for the policy makers, commissioners and healthcare professionals. Ovacome, a support network for women with
ovarian cancer, their families, friends and healthcare professionals is working
to raise awareness of ovarian cancer among MPs. Ovacome develops local quality profiles to give parliamentarians key
information on the quality of ovarian cancer services in their local area,
including the latest data on outcomes of the therapies and on the effectiveness
of the services offered to the patients. MPs then use the information to design
and execute campaigns for better ovarian cancer services and also ensure that the
experiences of women with ovarian cancer are well recorded and highlighted in
their campaign to benefit the society.
Ovacome recently organised a ‘drop-in’ briefing event and invited MPs
to meet with its members to find out more about ovarian cancer and to receive
the regional quality profile. The aim of the
program was to raise awareness of the problems that patients encountered during
the course of the treatment and to highlight the part of the processes that
worked well. It was also aimed at encouraging MPs to take action to tackle
ovarian cancer and improve outcomes. As a member of
Ovacome, I was also invited to attend the event and to talk to MPs about my
experiences with my Mother’s diagnosis and treatment of the cancer.
Louise Bayne the Chief
Executive of Ovacome briefed us on the importance of the day and
encouraged the members who pointed out the following points to be included in
the MP regional profiles:
·
Ovarian cancer is the fifth most common cancer
among women in the UK, and one of the harder cancers to detect. This means that it has been difficult for
policy makers, commissioners and healthcare professionals to tackle.
·
The outcomes of ovarian cancer patients living
in the UK are still poorer than in comparable countries
·
Improving early diagnosis will be key to
improving outcomes. There is good
evidence to show that the UK is a relatively low user of newer cancer drugs,
including those for ovarian cancer.
·
There is variation across the country on the
percentage of patients who understood their condition. Ovarian cancer patients were 10% less likely
to be offered information about their condition than all cancers combined, in
data from the National Cancer Patient Experience Survey.
Out of the attendees
there were few women who volunteered and discussed about their experiences
while they fought the disease. One of them had her last chemotherapy 5 days
ago, and then there was another woman who has been in remission for 5 years but
left with severe walking difficulties. She is unable to work and due to the
economic climate she has seen her benefits cut. She is struggling to survive.
There was also a woman who survived Ovarian Cancer 25 years ago, who now
dedicated her life to fundraising for many cancer charities.
After the group discussion members were given a chance to have a brief
discussion with MPs. I was also able to discuss my Mother’s Ovarian Cancer to a selective few.
I talked to Lorely Burt who is Liberal Democrat MP
for Solihull recognised the problem of
the late diagnosis. However, from her
own research, she claims that every GP will only encounter Ovarian Cancer once
in their career. I also had a brief converstaion with Norman Lamb who is Liberal
Democrat MP for North Norfolk. He lost his Mother
to Ovarian Cancer but, was delighted with her treatment by her hospital. He
felt that they treated her well. During my discussion with Barry Sheerman, a labour MP for Huddersfield, he highlighted how the cancer is very close to his heart.
His daughter survived the disease in her early 20’s. She has now been able to conceive four
children. Each through IVF Treatment,
due her inability to conceive naturally from her chemotherapy.
The day was really successful due to the sharing of the
experiences, knowledge and assurance of help from MPs to execute awareness
campaigns in the society. MPs collected a press release to use with their local
media. The photos of the event were used
by MPs local media to publicise their support for the report. Each MP who attended the Parliamentary ‘drop-in event’ will be contacted in early 2013 by MHP Health
Mandate to discuss the day and the methods to improve the treatment of Ovarian
Cancer.
After attending the successful event I am now keen on taking the initiative
forward by supporting Ovacome in every awareness program. I am running the London
Marathon 2013 for Ovacome and I am sure that many more will join this
program and help in making the event successful.
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