Latest political news

Following the successful launch of local cancer statistics to MPs in England before Christmas, the Policy Department is now sending similar statistics to Public Health Directors, along with a briefing on Joint Strategic Needs Assessments, which are developed by law by Local Authorities and Primary Care Trusts. The briefing covers what we believe should be in a JSNA from a cancer perspective.

You may have seen in the news that there has been a lot of political debate recently regarding the Health and Social Care Bill, particularly after the Health Select Committee released a critical report last week. As the next stage of the Bill progresses through the House of Lords, the Policy Department will be briefing Peers regarding it.

Cancer Research UK does not take a position on the overall Bill, but influences Parliamentarians on our three core priorities – early diagnosis, commissioning and research. The Policy Department has developed an updated briefing for the next stage of the Bill which begins on 8th February in the House of Lords, and is also writing speeches for three specific Peers to give during debates which will run for around seven non consecutive days.

Last week the Government published the Public Health Outcomes Framework. With the movement of public health from the NHS to local authorities, the Outcomes Framework provides a means for holding local authorities and other bodies to account for the progress they make on cancer prevention and early diagnosis. The Government has included indicators for cancer diagnosed at stage 1 and 2, cancer screening coverage, cancer mortality, as well as number related to cancer prevention. Cancer Research UK is pleased that cancer mortality will be shared indicator in both the Public Health Outcomes Framework and the NHS Outcomes Framework, as this should ensure that local authorities and the NHS prioritise early diagnosis and awareness.

Cancer Research UK is a member of the secretariat for the All Party Parliamentary Group on Medical Research, which ran two high profile events for parliamentarians at the end of January.

The first event was a dinner in Westminster, which looked back at the Government announcements in health research in 2011 and set the stage for what we can expect in 2012. Several high profile parliamentarians attended the event, including George Freeman MP who is the life sciences adviser to the Science Minister David Willets. Cancer Research UK represented the voice of the medical research charity sector, and highlighted our key priorities, through a speech from our Director of Policy, Sarah Woolnough. Attendees came away enthused about pushing forward new Government initiatives, and vocal in the need to hold Government to account.

The second event the group held was a breakfast meeting in Parliament, which briefed parliamentarians on the use of animals in research. This event was hugely popular, with many MPs and Peers expressing how important it was that they were briefed on such a high profile issue. There was an engaging discussion of the need to ensure that regulation of this area of research maintained the UK’s high animal welfare standards, whilst many highlighted the need to regularly engage with the public on this issue to ensure full transparency.

Last week, the Policy Department held an event to showcase highlights from Cancer Research UK’s policy research to influence health and science policy and practice, explore opportunities for joint working and allow discussion of future priorities in health and science policy research. The symposium covered several policy areas: prevention, including early diagnosis and lifestyle advice; services and treatment; and medical research. While there was naturally a focus on cancer, many of the policy issues were also very relevant to other diseases.

Speakers include Professor Annie Anderson, Director of the Centre for Public Health Nutrition Research at University of Dundee Medical School presenting the findings of a CR-UK funded report into ‘Lifestyle advice after colorectal cancer surgery’; Professor Jeffrey Tobias, Professor of Cancer Medicine at University College London Hospitals and a CR-UK Board Member presenting ‘Improving cancer outcomes: an analysis of the implementation of the UK’s cancer strategies 2006-10’; and Policy Manager, Heather Walker presenting the findings of our report, ‘Achieving a world-class radiotherapy service across the UK’.

Three of our Cancer Campaigns Ambassadors, Helen Hopkinson (Nottingham), Ashley Petrons (Exeter) and Maggie Harrison (Barrow-in-Furness), have been chosen out of tens of thousands of nominations to be Olympic Torchbearers.  The Cancer Campaigns team nominated them because of the fantastic campaigning work they’ve done for Cancer Research UK, whether lobbying at Westminster or in their constituency, meeting their MPs face to face or rallying their communities into action. We can’t wait to see them lift the Olympic torch!

On Wednesday 7th March we will be holding an MPs’ “expert briefing” to launch our plain packaging campaign at Westminster. Stephen Williams MP, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health, is hosting the event in the House of Commons. We hope the briefing will take place around the time the Government launches its consultation on tobacco packaging.

MPs are invited to come and have a photo taken to promote their local Race for Life and learn about our new campaign at the same time. The event will launch a Cancer Research UK-funded report on tobacco packaging written by the Centre for Tobacco Control Research. Keynote speaker, Professor Robert West, will give a presentation about the evidence for plain packaging and we will also hear about the power of branding. MPs receive a constituency media press release along with their photos after the event and we encourage MPs to Tweet and post about the event on their website/blog. The event will enable us to promote our call for legislation on plain packaging, debunk some key myths and gather further intelligence during the three month consultation period. This complements the work of our wonderful Cancer Campaigns Ambassadors who are already having local meetings with MPs to introduce them to the campaign.

On 4 January the BMJ published an editorial titled “Research misconduct in the UK” on the ongoing debate over the publishing bias in medical research. The article outlines the ways in which pharmaceutical companies and the wider scientific community is failing to publish the results of trials which did not achieve positive results. It argued that the failure to make public results of studies which showed drugs and treatments are not effective has the potential to harm patient care.

The debate was continued on the Today programme and other national media sources. Reaction to the article agreed that publication bias was an issue but highlighted the role of scientific journals, such as the BMJ, which favour publishing positive results and papers.  It was agreed that pharmaceutical companies should be more open about releasing information on their drugs.

Our Director of Population and Clinical Research Kate Law was quoted in the Independent as saying some companies (pharmaceutical) deliberately "parked" results they considered to be a "commercial disaster", hoping the drug would later prove effective for a different tumour or a different disease stage. Read the Independent’s article to find out more.

Before Christmas the Public Affairs team sent local cancer statistics briefings to MPs in England, covering a range of areas such as incidence, mortality, survival rates, smoking rates and many others. The statistics were developed jointly by the Statistics and Public Affairs teams. The briefings included letters from our Director of Policy Sarah Woolnough, and suggestions for key actions that they MPs could take to improve their local area’s performance.

This project is continuing; we are currently sending Local Authority profiles out to Public Health Directors with a CR-UK briefing, and will send similar statistics to Chief Executives of Primary Care Trusts. We are also investigating doing similar work in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Local cancer statistics are extremely useful for us in communicating with MPs, and we will continue to embed them in all that we do.

The Future Forum, which originally looked at the Health and Social Care Bill last Summer and made recommendations for changes, released a second report this week, covering four key areas: integration, information, public health and education and training. Cancer Research UK held the first listening exercise for this stage of the Future Forum, with a range of our Ambassadors, patient representatives and other contacts having their say, which was fed in to Future Forum team.

There were a number of recommendations in the report, such as the Government reviewing the NHS Constitution and patients owning their own records in the future. The report suggested that patients need to be offered more information, choice and personalised care. Shared outcomes between the NHS and public health systems were also seen as important, which Cancer Research UK is in favour of in terms of cancer, and was pleased to see the first one recently. We are continuing to monitor this work, and feed in where possible.

The Government recently published an Innovation and Research Strategy for Growth, setting out how it will work with business to underpin private sector led growth. In the same week, the Government published its strategy of life sciences, outlining actions the Government will take to make the UK a world-leading place for life sciences investment. A recurring issue these strategies face is the difficulty of translating research into commercial application, particularly the lack of funding – the so-called “valley of death”.

This inquiry will look at how the Government and other organisations can improve the commercialisation of research. The areas it is looking at closely are common difficulties and solutions to funding the commercialisation of research and whether there are specific science sectors where this is more of a problem. It is also asking for evidence that Government strategies have and will help bridge the valley of death. And finally it is looking into different types of private and Government investment and how these can be encouraged and developed. We are responding.

Our response will focus upon the unique combination of stakeholders that work together in the UK to drive medical research and how this makes the UK a hub for cutting edge research. We will emphasise the importance of partnership funding and collaboration between Government, private and charity funders to encourage innovation, support infrastructure and attract the very best people into medical research. We address the problems of the UK’s overly complex regulatory and governance frameworks and the failure to capitalise on the potential that the NHS offers.  We also highlight the challenges involved with research into rare cancers and the exciting opportunities early access and patient data ‘opt-out’ bring to this area.

The Government’s delay to its consultation on plain packaging has not stopped a lot of work on our campaign. We know that the tobacco industry and their friends are talking to MPs so we are too. Since the last update on plain packaging we have spoken to over 30 MPs about plain packaging in Westminster and in their constituencies. This includes encouraging meetings with the health secretary, Andrew Lansley, and the shadow health secretary, Andy Burnham.

Through a briefing pack, conference calls and meetings, ambassadors are up to speed on the campaign and are now beginning a series of meetings with even more parliamentarians. Meanwhile, the parliamentary team have been briefing top decision-makers on the key arguments. When there is a concrete proposal from the Government interest will spike and this will be the most important time to take action so we have saved much of the public-facing campaign for then. But to keep the issue on the agenda before a possible launch in early March we will be launching proactive media stories that support the campaign in the coming weeks.

The Welsh Government has published its first official cancer plan: ‘Together Against Cancer.’

Main to points to note are:-

• A new Cancer Implementation Group has been formed to deliver the plan. Cancer Research UK’s policy team has been invited to attend the first meeting.
• Each Local Health Board in Wales will be expected to produce its own cancer delivery plan.
• There is a big focus on prevention and reducing inequalities .

The plan is out for consultation until 5th March 2012 and we will be submitting a response.

We have been campaigning for a new Cancer Plan for Wales since 2006, and we look forward to continuing to work with the Welsh Government to make the plan as ambitious as possible, including making early diagnosis and access to high quality treatment key priorities across Wales.

We will also be monitoring the implementation of the plan by forming links with the new Cancer Implementation Group.
Please read a full copy of the Plan and consultation document for further information.

David Willetts began 2012 with further announcements on the Government’s intention to support science, including a call for proposals for ‘new institutions’ that will focus on graduate science, and provide an alternative model to current universities. Whether these institutions will be privately funded or sponsored, or lead to extensions of existing campuses remains to be seen, and the Government has asserted that it is open to suggestions. There will be no additional funding available for the new institutions, however the Government has promised to assist in reducing any legislative or administrative barriers to enable them to get started.

Several reports were also launched relating to the impact of science, and a number of methods were outlined that should ensure the UK is internationally competitive, for example aiming for more UK universities to be in the world top 100, and calling for there to be 10% growth of university knowledge exchange funding from external sources.

These proposals have been met with interest and enthusiasm by the community, as further demonstration that the Government is committed to support the UK science base. We will closely monitor their implementation to determine how they fit with the raft of other announcements that were made at the end of 2011.

On 17 November, the GAVI Alliance international immunisations group has agreed to take the first steps towards funding the roll-out of vaccines against the Human papillomavirus in the developing world. For more information please read the GAVI Alliance press release.

The GAVI Alliance (formerly the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation) is a public-private partnership aimed at improving health in the world’s poorest countries. The Alliance brings together developing country and donor governments, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the World Bank, the vaccine industry in both industrialised and developing countries, research and technical agencies, civil society, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other private philanthropists. GAVI support consists of providing life-saving vaccines and strengthening health systems. In its first decade of work, GAVI has financed the immunisation of 325.6 million children and prevented more than 5.5 million premature deaths.

Leaders in developing countries have long been seeking access to HPV vaccine. Highly transmissible, HPV causes approximately 275,000 cervical cancer deaths every year, of which 88% occur in developing countries. Experts say that number could increase to 430,000 women every year by 2030 if action is not taken. Safe and effective HPV vaccines may prevent 70% of cervical cancer cases. HPV also causes other more rare cancers in both men and women.

Discussions are ongoing with the makers of the world's two approved HPV vaccines, Merck & Co Inc and GlaxoSmithKline Plc. However, if negotiations to secure a sustainable price from manufacturers are successful (as is anticipated) and the countries can demonstrate their ability to deliver the vaccines successfully, the first developing countries could be up and running with vaccination programmes from 2013, with Rwanda and Vietnam -- both of which have conducted pilot vaccination programmes -- likely to be among the first. Up to two million women and girls in nine developing countries could be protected from cervical cancer by 2015.

Cancer Research UK is part of the ‘Cervical Cancer Action’ coalition, which has welcomed GAVI support as a tipping point for prevention. Cervical Cancer Action is also calling on pharmaceutical companies and other organisations to help increase HPV vaccination in middle-income countries and cervical screening and treatment worldwide.

Introduced in 2006, HPV vaccination is now offered through government programs in 33 countries. The first countries to introduce the vaccine were wealthy, including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In these countries, strong early screening and treatment programs already result in low levels of disease, but this highly effective vaccine was still considered an important public health investment. Several middle-income countries, including Mexico, Panama, Peru, and Malaysia, and some low-income countries, including Bhutan and Rwanda, also have started ambitious national programs.

The day after the Prime Minister unveiled the Governments strategy for life sciences in the UK, our chief scientist Professor Nic Jones attended a New Statesman roundtable discussion on the future of the life sciences.

The closed roundtable event was chaired by Mark Henderson, Science Editor for the Times, and attended by several key players in UK life sciences including George Freeman MP who is the Life Sciences Advisor to the Science Minister. Their discussion was recorded for a special supplement of the New Statesman focusing on the future of the life sciences that will be published at the end of the year.

This was a fantastic opportunity for Cancer Research UK to have a leading voice in discussions relating to the life sciences, allowing us to raise the importance of medical research charities in UK life sciences and highlight the need for a comprehensive Government strategy that values the roles of all stakeholders.

On Monday 5th December the Prime Minister David Cameron presented the Government’s strategy for life sciences at a conference in London, announcing a raft of new measures aimed at making the UK a much better place to invest in health and life sciences.

The strategy included a proposal to reduce the time from a drug being developed to being available to patients, through the introduction of an early access scheme by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency. Cancer Research UK strongly welcomed the proposal, as it will offer real hope for thousands of people and will also provide a very strong incentive for companies of all sizes to develop new treatments for conditions where there is nothing currently available. The Government will consult on this issue in early 2012.

The strategy also announced there would be a consultation in early 2012 on the use of patient data in medical research, with the intention to make the use of patient data more routine. This builds on initiatives such as the secure Clinical Practice Research Datalink were announced earlier this year. We welcomed the plans to consult on the use of patient data in carefully controlled research studies. Allowing patient data to be shared can be enormously beneficial to research but the process must be subject to strict safeguards.

Read our blog to find out more about the measures in the life sciences strategy.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rt Hon George Osborne MP, delivered his Autumn Statement to the House of Commons on 29th November 2011, against a difficult backdrop of decreased growth, increased unemployment and increased borrowing. The biggest announcement was that spending cuts, previously expected to end by 2015 ahead of the General Election, will now continue until at least 2017. This is hugely significant in political as well as economic terms, because it means that the Conservatives will go into the next election campaign promising cuts and it also raises questions about the future political strategy of their coalition partners, the Liberal Democrats.

There were a range of economic indicators that were of relevance to Cancer Research UK, such as household spending decreasing by 2.3%, but the main points for Cancer Research UK were:

• Publication of datasets: As originally announced in the Plan for Growth in March, datasets from GPs and hospital care will be made available for use by health services, industry and researchers. Data on GP prescribing habits will also be published (by Sept 2012) and accessible to the public to help inform patient choice. The release of this data forms part of the Government’s Open Data initiative.
• Use of patient data in research: The Government re-announced that it will be creating a data service via the Clinical Practice Research Datalink. Cancer Research UK is supportive of this initiative which would securely provide anonymised datasets to researchers working on ethically approved studies.  
•  Investment in science: The Chancellor committed £200m to science infrastructure. £80m of this will go to the Institute of Animal Health at Pirbright, £25m to large-scale technology demonstrators and £60m to general laboratory and equipment upgrades. We welcome the investment in the UK science base, as it is crucial to supporting the research environment. The £60m for general laboratory and equipment upgrades will be important to maintaining the infrastructure which CR-UK scientists utilise in their research. The Government will also invest £10 million over five years from 2013-14 in Project Enthuse, matched by investment from the Wellcome Trust, to improve the quality of science teaching in schools.
• Progress against the Government’s Growth Review: The Treasury released a document which gave an update on the progress of the commitments made in the Growth Review in April, to which CR-UK has significantly contributed. Progress has been made on many of the commitments to life sciences, the highlight being formation of the Health Research Authority which will be established. The report also states that the government is active and making progress in negotiating the revision of the European Clinical Trials Directive and adopting a risk-based approach to research. The report highlighted the launch of the Translational Research Partnerships in NIHR Biomedical Research Centres and Units as progress which supports the life sciences sector.  

The Health and Social Care Bill is currently in the House of Lords at Committee Stage. We expect the Lords Report Stage (when the last big parliamentary debate happens on a Bill) to take place towards the end of January or early February. We have been working closely with Peers to ensure that our three priority issues (early diagnosis, commissioning and research) are heard in Parliament. We welcomed the Government’s agreement to include a duty to promote research and we have been in contact with Peers about the level of additional detail we would like to see on the duty before the Bill finishes its parliamentary stages. We have also been working with Lord Sharkey to highlight the measures we want to see in the new health system to promote early diagnosis.

Read our briefing for the Commons Stage of the Bill.

We have met a number of our target Ministers and Shadow Ministers and backbench MPs recently to discuss our key policy issues. Last week, Chief Executive Harpal Kumar and Director of Policy Sarah Woolnough met Secretary of State for Health Rt Hon Andrew Lansley MP and Shadow Secretary of State for Health Rt Hon Andy Burnham MP. At both meetings our key policy priorities on plain packaging of tobacco products and the health reforms were discussed. We also held an introductory meeting to discuss these priorities with the two new members of the Shadow Health team – Andrew Gwynne MP and Jamie Reed MP. Other recent meetings include Norman Lamb MP, the chief parliamentary adviser to Deputy Prime Minister Rt Hon Nick Clegg MP, and a number of Conservative and Labour backbenchers.

We have been in communication with Number 10 and the office of David Willetts MP, Minister for Universities and Science regarding the Government’s announcements on the life sciences last week.  This week we will brief shadow science minister Chi Onwurah MP on our response and the latest developments in research and innovation policy. We also met the new Shadow Charities Minister Gareth Thomas MP to highlight our priorities for supporting the charity’s fundraising environment.

We were pleased that after providing information for Guy Opperman MP, who called a debate on bowel cancer screening in the House of Commons two weeks ago, we secured some more positive mentions of flexible sigmoidoscopy and Cancer Research UK in Parliament. We were also delighted that after meeting Henry Smith MP, he used his local newspaper column to urge women in Crawley to send back their Race for Life sponsorship money. Mary Macleod MP told us she intends to run Race for Life again in 2012 and Dan Jarvis MP is running the London Marathon for Cancer Research UK in 2013. We are currently developing our programme of local events for MPs in 2012-13 and we hope to include local fundraising opportunities for some of our target MPs.

A number of MPs and MEPs recently attended a tour of our labs in Leeds. The attendees were: Nigel Adams MP, Kris Hopkins MP, Andrew Jones MP, Andrew Percy MP, Alec Shelbrooke MP, Julian Sturdy MP, Timothy Kirkhope MEP and Linda McAvan MEP.

They were able to witness firsthand the range of groundbreaking scientific research currently being carried out at the Leeds Cancer Research UK Centre at St James’s University Hospital. Local scientists’ strengths in understanding cancer biology are boosting efforts to develop new targeted treatments, and research into the genetic changes that drive cancer is sparking ideas for ways to detect the disease earlier and track how well treatment is working. We also discussed Cancer Research UK's policy priorities in the hope that politicians will champion these issues on our behalf.

26,700 people are diagnosed with cancer in Yorkshire and the Humber every year. Thanks to the generosity of its supporters, Cancer Research UK invests over £6 million a year on research in Leeds, part of an annual spend by the charity in Yorkshire of around £9 million a year, supporting the work of doctors, nurses and scientists who are dedicated to beating cancer by understanding its causes and investigating how best to prevent and treat it.

The Centre puts the city at the forefront of cancer research and brings direct benefits to patients across Yorkshire. Researchers at the Centre are focusing on bowel, bladder and kidney cancers, as well as melanoma skin cancer. They also specialise in leukaemia and lymphoma, lung cancer and children's cancers.

Professor Tim Bishop, head of genetic epidemiology at the University of Leeds and chair of the Leeds Cancer Research UK Centre, said: “I was really pleased to welcome our guests to our Centre to see for themselves how we take new cancer treatments from the laboratory bench to the bedside. It was a great opportunity to show how the Centre has stimulated new ways of working and built closer links with scientists, doctors, chemists, physicists, biologists and engineers on site, working hard to bring treatments from the lab to the clinic much faster.”

He also commented on the importance of access to treatments, saying, “it is a huge benefit for patients to be on clinical trials and we are delighted that so many have been recruited from across the region in the last year.”

Our work in Glasgow was put under the spotlight recently when a number of MPs and MSPs visited one of our labs in the city.

The MPs who attended were Pamela Nash MP, Ann McKechin MP, William Bain MP, Michael McCann MP, Jim Sheridan MP, and the MSPs were James Dornan MSP and Patricia Ferguson MSP.

On the visit to the city’s Paul O’Gorman Leukaemia Research Centre, the politicians learned first-hand how researchers were dedicated to beating cancer and about Cancer Research UK's policy priorities.

Glasgow is home to a thriving community of world-class cancer scientists and doctors who are working to reduce the devastating impact of cancer.

Last year Cancer Research UK was able to invest over £20 million in the city supporting their outstanding work, something that was only possible thanks to the generosity of the charity’s supporters.

The politicians were welcomed to the centre by Professor Tessa Holyoake, the director of the Paul O’Gorman Leukaemia Research Centre.

Prof Holyoake is studying the cells at the heart of chronic myeloid leukaemia, a type of blood cancer. These so-called ‘cancer stem cells’ can cause the disease to return after treatment, so she and her team are finding ways to target them with new drugs.

Prof Holyoake said: “I was really pleased to welcome the politicians to the West of Scotland Cancer Centre to see for themselves how we harness the expertise of researchers, doctors and nurses in Glasgow and develop new ideas from the lab into improvements in treatment that will benefit patients in the city and beyond.

“It was also a great opportunity to show how we are working with our partners across Glasgow to help beat cancer. Together we are leading the way in research that will help treat bowel and pancreatic cancer, and leukaemia.”

The visit was also attended by Tom Haswell, 66, of Bearsden, who told the politicians about his experience of a cancer trial.

Tom took part in a drug trial after being diagnosed with lung cancer in 1993 and told he had just three months to live. He was aged just 48.

Tom said: “I am in no doubt that taking part in that trial all those years ago saved my life which is why I was keen to share my story with the MPs and MSPs who visited this impressive research facility

“The work of Cancer Research UK scientists is simply amazing and I hope this visit has really helped raise awareness of the life saving research that is going on here in Glasgow.”

On Thursday 3rd November, we presented a petition of more than 36,000 signatures supporting our Voice for Radiotherapy campaign to 10 Downing Street. We were accompanied by two Cancer Campaigns Ambassadors and MPs Gavin Barwell and Tessa Munt.

The Voice for Radiotherapy campaign calls on the Government to improve radiotherapy services in England and ensure that everyone who needs radiotherapy gets it. We want all services to have enough properly trained staff, to provide the most effective kind of treatment and to plan properly for the future.

We were thrilled to hit our target for this campaign, and delighted to welcome two of our Cancer Campaigns Ambassadors to hand in the petition with us. Elizabeth Bailey from Luton was diagnosed with breast cancer in January 2010. Following surgery and chemotherapy, she received radiotherapy five times a week for three weeks to help reduce the chances of her cancer returning.

Elizabeth said: “I am passionate about raising awareness of radiotherapy among the public and politicians. Many people are in the dark about the value of this vitally important treatment. They see it as scary and old-fashioned. That’s not the case. It’s smart, it’s sophisticated and more importantly it works – I’m living proof of that.”

Barbara Freedman was the Ambassador who collected the greatest number of petition signatures in support of the campaign, thereby winning the chance to come with us to Downing Street. Barbara was inspired to campaign for better cancer services after losing her own mother to the disease and seeing numerous friends and family members go through treatment. She said: “I lost my mother to liver cancer in 1962 and it’s amazing to see how far cancer treatments like radiotherapy have evolved since then. Cancer touches so many people’s lives and when it affects your family you want to know that all the appropriate treatment options are available to your loved ones. So I’m calling on the Government to help make sure all cancer patients have equal access to high quality radiotherapy services when they need them. It could help to save people’s lives.”

Tessa Munt MP also highlighted the campaign in the House of Commons on the day of the hand-in by asking a Parliamentary Question.

We were pleased to support the ‘Year of Radiotherapy’ this year, which aims to celebrate a century of the treatment and to mark 100 years since Marie Curie won the Nobel Prize for her work on the radioactive element, radium. It was this work that helped further the field of using radiation as a medical treatment, and earning Marie Curie the modern nickname of ‘Godmother of radiotherapy’. The campaign aims to improve public understanding and awareness of the value of radiotherapy.

The Government has committed to launching a consultation by the end of this year on plain packaging of cigarettes. This proposal would mean all cigarette packs would become a murky green colour, with large health warnings and the brand name in a standard font.

Working with an ad agency, we have exciting ideas to bring the evidence base to life for our supporters and campaigners. Meanwhile, teams across the organisation are working together to maximise the power of the charity’s public communications. We are talking to politicians and senior advisers to get their support while planning an event in Parliament in the New Year.
We have achieved many of our past policy successes by working with others and so we’re building links with charities who have not worked on tobacco before, such as children’s organisations. We have promoted the policy regularly in traditional and social media and are planning a series of features for the consultation period.

All of this work is underpinned by the well-established academic research behind the policy, which is being brought together into a report for Cancer Research UK by Stirling University. We have already articulated the evidence base for a series of audiences while rebutting various desperate claims from the tobacco industry. The scale of activity reflects the size of the prize – protecting children from tobacco marketing.

On 20th October, Jean King, Director of Tobacco Control, and Layla Theiner, Public Affairs Manager (EU), participated in an advocacy meeting on the revision of the Tobacco Products Directive. The meeting aimed to share information and brief representatives from across Europe so they are better equipped to campaign for plain packaging and other calls at national and European level. Jean presented on the effectiveness of graphic warnings and plain packaging.

The workshop had been organised by the Smoke Free Partnership (SFP). We circulated a briefing we had produced which will also be shared with relevant MEPs, officials in the European Commission and national offices in Brussels.

During the ongoing revision of the Tobacco Products Directive, we are working with SFP and other organisations to call for plain packaging, picture warnings (80% front and back) and regulation of additives. All of this is possible under a revised directive although industry lobbying has already been very strong. The briefing on Tobacco Products Directive is available on the EU page of the Cancer Research UK website.

Cancer Research UK, SFP, 27 MEPs and several leading industry representatives, NGOs, charities and researchers have signed a letter that was sent to the President of the Commission and a number of Commissioners. The letter calls for the revised directive to be published in the first half of 2012, as planned, rather than be pushed back as this could impact on the likelihood it will be agreed before the next European Parliament elections in 2014. If the revised directive is not agreed before the elections, it is possible the whole process would have to start again.

The Welsh regulations requiring the supervision of sunbed use in all sunbed businesses came into force in Wales on Monday 31st October.

All sunbeds salons will have to be supervised to make sure that under-18s are not able to access the facilities. Health information will also have to be available for all adults wanting to use sunbeds. Adults will also be required to wear safe and appropriate eye-protection.

We have been campaigning to restrict access to sunbeds to under 18s in Wales since 2009, and worked very closely with the Welsh Government and Members of the National Assembly for Wales on this issue.

Professional training is being rolled out to all local authorities in Wales to assist the introduction and enforcement of the Act. For more information contact Clare Bath or visit the Welsh Government website. 

Last week we attended the launch event of the Legacy10 campaign, along with the Executive Director of Fundraising and Marketing, Richard Taylor, and the Head of Direct Giving and Legacy Marketing, Nick Georgiadis.

The campaign aims to encourage donors to pledge to give 10% of their legacy to charity. Those that are eligible for Inheritance Tax (the richest 3%) will also get a 10% reduction in their Inheritance Tax bill if they give 10% of their legacy to charity. The campaign is being chaired by Roland Rudd of RLM Finsbury (a city communications agency), with the strong support of the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne and the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Jeremy Hunt, both of whom attended the launch event.

Cancer Research UK will continue to monitor this campaign closely. The organisers are doing quarterly polling to establish how likely people are to pledge 10% of their legacy to charity, the results of which will be very interesting, as currently 74% of people support a charity in their lifetime, but only 7% leave a legacy to charity. We are conscious that the campaign must target everyone, and not just the top 3% who will benefit from the tax break, and Richard Taylor made this point to Jeremy Hunt at the event.

For more information, visit legacy10.com

Cancer Research UK was present at all three major Westminster party conferences. We held an exciting programme of meetings with Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs and Peers to discuss core issues including early diagnosis, cancer commissioning and research in the Health and Social Care Bill, plain packaging of tobacco products and the contribution of medical research to economic growth. We were involved in a cancer round-table event with the Care Services Minister, Paul Burstow MP (who has responsibility for cancer services), and attended various events on topics such as public health, quality in the NHS, early diagnosis, tobacco smuggling and support for charities.

We met key stakeholders including health and cancer charities, think tanks, political advisers and other organisations such as the Local Government Association. We also took the opportunity to seek information from people working in public health and cancer networks where the conferences were taking place.

Our Chief Scientist, Professor Nic Jones, and Policy Manager Emma Greenwood spoke separately on panels at two events organised by the New Statesman on the topic “Is there a future for discovering and producing medicine in the UK?” Professor Jones spoke alongside the Minister for Universities and Science, David Willetts MP. Both Cancer Research UK contributions were very well received.

We were delighted to promote two new Cancer Research UK reports throughout the conference season on ‘Building the Ideal Environment for Medical Research’ and ‘Cancer patients’ views on government plans to introduce value-based pricing for medicines’.

For more information please contact Laura E. Williams, Public Affairs Officer, on laura.e.williams@cancer.org.uk or 020 3469 8499

This month sees the first concrete outcome from Cancer Research UK’s Out of Sight, Out of Mind campaign as cigarettes will no longer be sold from vending machines in England. Other parts of the UK will be following suit but have been held back by tobacco industry lawsuits.

With thousands of our supporters we also campaigned for displays of tobacco to be removed from shops and for cigarettes to be sold in plain packaging, which means all cigarette packs would look the same, packaged in a standard shape without any branding, design or logo, but with the crucial health warnings on the front and back. We’re making good progress on these two: shop displays are set to disappear from large shops next April and the Government has promised to hold a consultation on plain packaging by the end of this year.

The time was up for vending machines because without having to have a face-to-face encounter with a shopkeeper, they were a ridiculously easy way for teenagers to buy cigarettes. In fact, when local councils tested whether underage people were able to purchase cigarettes from vending machines in the last financial year, they managed to buy them in over half of the venues they visited.

Trying to stop children from starting smoking is vital – eight out of ten smokers start before they’re 19, and addiction keeps them smoking into adulthood. One in two long-term smokers die from their habit and smoking is responsible for 100,000 deaths each year, including over a quarter of deaths from cancer.

Please contact robin.hewings@cancer.org.uk for further information.

The Leader of the Labour Party, Rt Hon Ed Miliband MP, has selected his own Shadow Cabinet for the first time. When in Opposition, Labour MPs traditionally held elections for the Shadow Cabinet but Mr Miliband recently changed the rules, meaning that he is now in control of choosing his shadow team. He announced the changes on Friday 7th October, including promotions for six MPs from the 2010 intake.

Andy Burnham MP (Leigh) is the new Shadow Health Secretary, having served as Secretary of State for Health 2009 – 2010. Liz Kendall MP (Leicester West) has moved within the shadow health team to become Shadow Minister for Care and Older People, attending Shadow Cabinet. Emily Thornberry (our own local MP in Islington South and Finsbury) has been moved from the shadow health team and replaced by Andrew Gwynne MP (Denton and Reddish) and Jamie Reed MP (Copeland).

Chuka Umunna MP (Streatham) is the new Shadow Business, Innovation and Skills Secretary. Mr Umunna is widely anticipated to be a contender for Labour Party Leader in future and his promotion was not unexpected. Chi Onwurah MP (Newcastle Central) is still on the shadow BIS team and we expect her to remain our primary contact on medical research issues. Rachel Reeves MP (Leeds West) is now Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

Jon Trickett MP (Hemsworth) takes over the role of Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office (where responsibility for charity policy sits) and Gareth Thomas MP (Harrow West) takes on the Shadow Cabinet Office position opposite Nick Hurd MP, Minister for Civil Society.

For more information please contact Laura E. Williams, Public Affairs Officer, on laura.e.williams@cancer.org.uk or 020 3469 8499.

There is also a major change at the top of the civil service: the Cabinet Secretary, Sir Gus O’Donnell, will retire at the end of the year, a little earlier than expected. He will be replaced as Cabinet Secretary and principal policy adviser to both the prime minister and the deputy prime minister by Sir Jeremy Heywood, currently the top civil servant at Number 10. The roles of head of the civil service and the permanent secretary at the Cabinet Office, currently also undertaken by Sir Gus, will now be split into two. The role of head of the civil service will be opened up to a competition between current permanent secretaries of government departments while Ian Watmore, currently the head of the efficiency and reform group at the Cabinet Office, will become the Cabinet Office permanent secretary.

For more information please contact Laura E. Williams, Public Affairs Officer, on laura.e.williams@cancer.org.uk or 020 3469 8499.

Last week, Assembly Members in the National Assembly for Wales voted unanimously in favour of the development of a new National Cancer Plan for Wales.

We called for the development of a new comprehensive cancer plan for Wales in the run-up to the 2011 Assembly Elections, and AMs have recently held several debates to inform what the new plan, “Designed to Tackle Cancer: Phase 3”, should contain. We sent briefings through to AMs in advance, outlining CR-UK’s priorities for the plan, and called for the Welsh Government to work with us on its development.

The debates resulted in the Health Minister confirming that the Welsh Government intend to hold a three month formal consultation on the draft plan. This is the first time that the Government have agreed to consult on their cancer policy and we welcome this news.

We will now be writing to the Health Minister to ask for a meeting to discuss this further, and to set out the benefits of involving cancer charities in Designed to Tackle Cancer’s development.

For further information, please contact Clare Bath on clare.bath@cancer.org.uk.

Jon Cruddas MP today visited the Cancer Research UK Cancer Awareness Roadshow in Dagenham and Rainham to learn how to spot cancer early.

Mr Cruddas, MP for Dagenham and Rainham, joined nurses at the Cancer Awareness Roadshow at Morrisons in Becontree Heath to learn more about how people in Dagenham and Rainham can reduce their risk of cancer and spot signs and symptoms of the disease at an early stage. The Roadshow is organised by Cancer Research UK, and the nurses on board provide information to visitors on the link between lifestyle and cancer, the signs and symptoms of cancer, and the importance of screening.

Cancer Research UK and Morrisons are joining forces during October as part of Morrisons Pharmacy cancer awareness month. Pharmacy staff will be helping to improve the health of their customers by being on hand to talk about how to reduce the risk of cancer and how to spot cancer early.

Mr Cruddas said: “I was very impressed with my visit to the Cancer Awareness Roadshow and the vitally important advice and information that it provides. It is shocking that around three people in London are diagnosed with cancer every hour.

“I was pleased to hear that Cancer Research UK and Morrisons Pharmacy are working together to help local people to spot cancer early. Pharmacists can play an important role in raising awareness of the signs and symptoms of cancer and encouraging people to see their GP if they have any concerns, as they provide advice to many people in their local communities.”

“When cancer is diagnosed at an early stage, treatment is often simpler and more likely to be effective. I wholeheartedly support Cancer Research UK’s call to spot cancer as soon as possible. Early detection saves lives.”

Cancer Awareness Roadshow nurse, Ceri Eames said: “We were delighted to have Mr Cruddas on board helping us to spread the word. More people than ever are now surviving cancer, but thousands of cancer deaths could still be prevented each year if more cancers were diagnosed at an early stage.

“If you notice any unusual or persistent changes in your body, visit your GP without delay. If it is something serious then finding it early could make all the difference.”

The Cancer Awareness Roadshow will be stationed at Morrisons on Wood Lane, Becontree Heath, from 9.30am – 3.30pm pm on 14th October. Visitors can take advantage of the free service which includes talking to a specialist nurse in a private consultation room, taking a Body Mass Index (BMI) test to find out whether their weight is within a healthy range and picking up useful health information to take away.

Since launching in 2006 in partnership with the Marie Keating Foundation, the Cancer Awareness Roadshow has seen more than 200,000 visitors in over 200 cities and towns across the UK.

To find out more about the Cancer Awareness Roadshow and how to detect cancer early visit www.cancerawarenessroadshow.org.

Minister for Cancer Services Paul Burstow MP visited the Birmingham Centre as part of the Liberal Democrat Party Conference in the city.

The Minister for Care Services Paul Burstow MP visited Cancer Research UK's Birmingham Centre to meet world class scientists, ahead of the Liberal Democrat Party Conference, which is being held in Birmingham this year.

The Liberal Democrat MP for Sutton and Cheam was taken on a tour of the Centre where he saw first-hand how investment in medical research helps to support economic growth. Cancer Research UK spends almost £9 million annually at the Birmingham Cancer Research UK Centre, which is a partnership between Cancer Research UK, the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, the University of Birmingham and Birmingham Childrens’ Hospital. The Birmingham Cancer Research UK Centre is a leading centre for clinical trials and aims to fast track new laboratory discoveries into the clinic.

Mr Burstow said: “I enjoyed visiting the Centre, and seeing the world class research that is taking place there. In the West Midlands, 26,900 people are diagnosed with cancer every year. However, overall cancer survival rates have doubled in the last 40 years, and I support the excellent work that Cancer Research UK does in the fight against it.”

He was accompanied on the tour by Sarah Woolnough, Director of Policy at Cancer Research UK and Professor Malcolm Taylor, Deputy Head of the School of Cancer Sciences at the University of Birmingham whose work focuses on the genetic predisposition to cancer.
Sarah Woolnough said: “We were delighted to show the Minister the groundbreaking research that our scientists are doing to fight cancer in Birmingham, and we are also pleased that the Government announced on the day of the visit increased investment into making the public aware of the signs and symptoms of bowel, breast and a range of other cancers.”

Cancer Research UK's Public Affairs team are currently working on a programme of local visits by politicians to the various Cancer Research UK Centres throughout the UK. Debbie Ringham, Senior LEAD Manager at the Birmingham Centre worked closely with the Policy team to deliver this visit, briefing CR-UK funded researchers and ensuring suitable facilities were available on the day for the Ministers to see. Debbie said “These MP visits are an excellent opportunity to showcase the important and innovative research that is going on within our Centres”. Such visits have already taken place in Newcastle and Manchester, with Cambridge, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Leeds all due to take place over the forthcoming months.

As well as meeting researchers based in the Centre, Mr Burstow also met Vinod Malhotra, aged 65, from Solihull who was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2006. Mr Malhotra used his own experience with cancer to stress the importance of clinical trials. Tests showed that Mr Malhotra’s cancer was advanced which meant he was not a suitable candidate for surgery. Instead he was put on a clinical trial in London where patients were being treated with High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU).

“For many patients the treatment brought a complete cure, but for me it got rid of 95 per cent of the cancer,” he said. “Early diagnosis is vital if cancer is to be caught at a treatable stage. My cancer was already advanced, but thankfully it was caught early enough for me to benefit from the treatments available”, he added.

Next month Mr Malhotra will take part in the Great Birmingham Run to raise funds for Cancer Research UK and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital charity.

On Thursday 8th September, Cancer Research UK hosted the first listening event of the second round of the Government’s Future Forum 2 programme. The NHS Future Forum is chaired by Professor Steve Field, a GP and former chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners and its purpose is to drive the process of engagement with staff, patients and communities on reforms and modernisation of the NHS and the implementation of these plans.

The event attracted over 30 people representing cancer networks, primary care and cancer commissioners. Cancer patients and Cancer Research UK ambassadors also attended the event. There was a wide ranging discussion about how local authorities and clinical commissioning groups should work together to promote awareness and early diagnosis of cancer, what people valued in the current delivery of cancer services and what needed to be retained and improved. A number of recommendations were made including:

1. Joint incentives need to be developed and supported by shared budgets between Public Health England and the National Commissioning Board (NCB) to ensure joint working to improve awareness and early diagnosis of cancer. The NCB should have overall responsibility for saving 5,000 lives by 2014/15.
2. Clinical Nurse Specialist roles need to be protected because of the valuable role they play in helping patients through the treatment pathway.
3. Commissioners with specialist knowledge about cancer treatment and how to commission different types and quantities of services should be maintained.
4. National leadership to help drive improvements in cancer services is important. The role of the National Cancer Director is vital in ensuring that cancer remains a high priority and should be maintained.
5. Cancer networks perform a vital role in integrating cancer services at a local level and assisting in commissioning arrangements and the delivery and implementation of the national cancer strategy. The role and functions of cancer networks need to be confirmed as soon as possible.
6. Each Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) must have a clinical cancer lead responsible for liaising with clinical networks and local authorities to ensure a coordinated and integrated approach to commissioning cancer services across the pathway.
7. Initiatives must be developed to ensure healthcare professionals including dentists and pharmacist know the signs and symptoms of cancer and can advise people to seek further advice.
8. Patients should have access to their own health records to enable better information sharing between primary and secondary care and across health disciplines. This could be based on the ante-natal record of shared care and ‘red books’ for newborns.
9. New systems need to be developed to quickly integrate patients into the NHS directly if their cancer recurs.
10. The collation and coverage of staging data for cancer needs be further enhanced. Information about the stage at which a cancer has been diagnosed can help to monitor trends, highlight poor performing areas of the country where cancer is being diagnosed late and take action to improve outcomes for patients.
11. More GPs with a special interest (GPwSIs) in cancer roles should be created. The role has accredited training with specialist time attached to improve primary care knowledge about cancer and to disseminate knowledge to colleagues. The role could also help improve efforts to increase awareness and early diagnosis of cancer.

A full report of the event is available and if you would like to read more about it, please contact Emily Arkell. The discussions at the listening event will be used to inform the report of the NHS Future Forum 2 which is due to be published later this year.

Cancer Research UK published a report last week which outlines the vital elements that should form the core of a strategy to support UK medical research. The report, 'Building the Ideal Environment for Medical Research’, draws upon the experience of thirty Cancer Research UK experts, including our researchers and in-house professionals with expertise in research funding and strategy, with whom we conducted in-depth interviews. We considered how the following elements are needed to build a thriving medical research environment: funding; infrastructure; collaboration; investing in people; regulation and governance.

The report follows the recent announcement in the Higher Education White Paper of the Government’s intention to develop a research and innovation strategy by the end of 2011. Development of this strategy provides an important opportunity for the Government to outline how it plans to ensure a long-term supportive environment for medical research, and to realise the commitments made in the 2010 spending review and the 2011 Plan for Growth.

Download the full report (PDF).

The way drugs are priced on the NHS will change, with a ‘value-based pricing system’ to replace the current Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme (PPRS) at the end of 2013. Cancer Research UK is particularly keen to ensure that the views and priorities of patients are adequately represented in defining the value of new treatments. To this end we conducted a survey of cancer patients and their families in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (through Cancer Network User Involvement Groups and links on CancerChat and CancerHelp). 147 responses were received in total and we issued a report outlining the findings at the beginning of September.

There were three main findings from this survey:

1. Overwhelmingly, cancer patients believe that the efficacy of the drug being evaluated is either the only or clearly the main factor that should be considered when deciding whether to make a drug available on the NHS. 67% of respondents felt that cost was not an important factor in deciding which treatment to offer.
2. Respondents stated that the most important factor in deciding whether a drug was effective or not was whether it would save lives. However, respondents also placed a strong emphasis on quality of life, with the majority agreeing that a drug that would improve quality of life was more important than a drug that would extend life.
3. Patients were able to comment generally on the care they had received and what could be done to improve it. Excepting improving efficacy of the treatment itself, by far the most common comment was that for many patients, being able to continue their life as normally as possible was the most important thing that could be improved about their treatment. When asked to rank factors that were important to them in how their treatment was delivered, the majority ranked being able to be treated at home as the most important aspect of delivery.

The number and quality of responses received demonstrate that a significant number of cancer patients have an opinion on what is important to them about their treatment. The design of a new system to decide which treatments are made available on the NHS should involve consultation with cancer patients themselves. In this way the Government can ensure that the NHS is providing the kind of service that patients want to see. Encouragingly, a large majority of patients were satisfied that they received the treatment their doctor recommended. However, a significant minority felt that this was not the case.

This survey did not seek to define how a value-based pricing system might be implemented, but rather to inform the process by which this should be defined. The following recommendations were made to address how the Government should go about shaping the value-based pricing system, rather than the shape the finished system should actually take:

1. The development of value-based pricing should actively involve patients in order to effectively reflect their priorities with regards to treatment. This survey has shown that patients have strong opinions on how new treatments should be prioritised, and in order to ensure maximum value is gained for patients, these views should be fully reflected in the design of the new system.
2. The new scheme should be able to take into consideration other factors that are important specifically to cancer patients, such as place of administration or side effect profile. These factors are significant to patients undergoing long and arduous programmes of treatment such as chemotherapy, but which may not be adequately accounted for under the “burden of illness” criteria laid out by the Government in the recent consultation.
3. More needs to be done to overcome the perception of a postcode lottery which spreads fear amongst cancer patients. It is therefore important that assurances are written into the new scheme that value-based pricing will not lead to variations in local availability.
4. It is extremely important that, however the new value-based pricing system is designed, how it will work in practice is effectively communicated to patients. Many of the comments in this survey show how important patients’ perceptions of treatment availability can be. In particular, reassuring patients that they will have access to the treatment they require, and that they will not be denied treatment on the basis of price, will be essential.

We have shared the report with relevant MPs, civil servants and other interested parties, such as representatives of the pharmaceutical industry and patient groups. We will continue to brief MPs and advisers in the coming months on our position on this issue to influence how value-based pricing is implemented.

Joint statement on the Clinical Trials Directive

Under the Clinical Trials Directive (CTD), all clinical trials investigating the safety and/or efficacy of a medicinal product in humans must meet a number of legal obligations. In the UK, the CTD was transposed into national law and came into force on 1st May 2004. The CTD provides a standardised framework which sets out how clinical trials investigating the safety or efficacy of a medicinal product in humans must be conducted throughout the European Union (EU). There have been concerns about the implementation and effectiveness of the Directive. Cancer Research UK led on the putting together of a joint statement that provides an outline on some key issues relating to clinical trials and has been supported by a number of pan-European and national organisations. The aim of the paper is to show a joint position on some of the key issues relating to clinical trials in Europe.

We have issued a statement because the European Commission is currently reviewing the directive. A revised version is to be published next year. This statement was put together following discussions with colleagues at other medical research organisations. We sent an initial version, just signed by UK medical research organisations, to the European Commission in response to the consultation in May.

The statement outlines that the Directive, as it is currently worded and implemented, has had the following negative impacts on clinical trials:

1. Divergent application, largely due to inconsistent interpretation of the Directive across different Member States, has made it increasingly difficult to undertake multi-national clinical trials.
2. The Directive has led to a greater administrative burden (with associated costs and delays) for clinical trials. The assessment undertaken by the Impact on Clinical Research of European Legislation (ICREL) found that non-commercial sponsors required an increase from 1.5 to 2.8 FTE (full-time equivalent) staff to manage administrative tasks associated with a Clinical Trial Authorisation, and that there was an increase in time between finalisation of protocol and first patient recruited from 144 to 178 days.
3. The ‘one size fits all’ regulatory requirements mean that trials on well-understood drugs are regulated in the same way as trials of completely new drugs, where the risks are unknown. This has increased the difficulties in conducting low-risk clinical trials.

We would like to see revision to the Directive and the accompanying guidance in the following areas:

• Risk-based approach: A proportionate approach to the assessment and regulatory requirements of clinical trials examining the safety or efficacy of medical products should be introduced.
• Greater clarity on the scope of the Directive
• Streamlined authorisation and assessment of clinical trials
• Simplified approval and monitoring requirements
• Clearer, more detailed guidance

The organisations that support this statement are: Cancer Research UK, European CanCer Organisation (ECCO), European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC), European Clinical Infrastructures Network (ECRIN), European Science Foundation (ESF), International Brain Tumour Alliance (IBTA), Society for Paediatric Oncology in Europe (SIOP Europe); the KKS Network of Clinical trials in Germany; the Medical Research Council (MRC), Association of British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI), Wellcome Trust, Academy of Medical Sciences (AMS), Arthritis Research UK, Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC) and British Heart Foundation (BHF).

The statement received media coverage including in The Telegraph.

The Minister for Care Services Paul Burstow MP visited Cancer Research UK's Birmingham Centre to meet world class scientists, ahead of the Liberal Democrat Party Conference, which is being held in Birmingham this year.

The Liberal Democrat MP for Sutton and Cheam was taken on a tour of the Centre where he saw first-hand how investment in medical research helps to support economic growth. Cancer Research UK spends almost £9 million annually at the Birmingham Cancer Research UK Centre, which is a partnership between Cancer Research UK, the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, the University of Birmingham and Birmingham Childrens’ Hospital. The Birmingham Cancer Research UK Centre is a leading centre for clinical trials and aims to fast track new laboratory discoveries into the clinic.

Mr Burstow said: “I enjoyed visiting the Centre, and seeing the world class research that is taking place there. In the West Midlands, 26,900 people are diagnosed with cancer every year. However, overall cancer survival rates have doubled in the last 40 years, and I support the excellent work that Cancer Research UK does in the fight against it.”

He was accompanied on the tour by Sarah Woolnough, Director of Policy at Cancer Research UK and Professor Malcolm Taylor, Deputy Head of the School of Cancer Sciences at the University of Birmingham whose work focuses on the genetic predisposition to cancer.

Sarah Woolnough said: “We were delighted to show the Minister the groundbreaking research that our scientists are doing to fight cancer in Birmingham, and we are also pleased that the Government announced on the day of the visit increased investment into making the public aware of the signs and symptoms of bowel, breast and a range of other cancers.”

Cancer Research UK's Public Affairs team are currently working on a programme of local visits by politicians to the various Cancer Research UK Centres throughout the UK. Debbie Ringham, Senior LEAD Manager at the Birmingham Centre worked closely with the Policy team to deliver this visit, briefing CR-UK funded researchers and ensuring suitable facilities were available on the day for the Ministers to see. Debbie said “These MP visits are an excellent opportunity to showcase the important and innovative research that is going on within our Centres”. Such visits have already taken place in Newcastle and Manchester, with Cambridge, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Leeds all due to take place over the forthcoming months.

As well as meeting researchers based in the Centre, Mr Burstow also met Vinod Malhotra, aged 65, from Solihull who was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2006. Mr Malhotra used his own experience with cancer to stress the importance of clinical trials. Tests showed that Mr Malhotra’s cancer was advanced which meant he was not a suitable candidate for surgery. Instead he was put on a clinical trial in London where patients were being treated with High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU).

“For many patients the treatment brought a complete cure, but for me it got rid of 95 per cent of the cancer,” he said. “Early diagnosis is vital if cancer is to be caught at a treatable stage. My cancer was already advanced, but thankfully it was caught early enough for me to benefit from the treatments available”, he added.

Next month Mr Malhotra will take part in the Great Birmingham Run to raise funds for Cancer Research UK and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital charity.

The Office for Life Sciences has invited Cancer Research UK to participate in a new review it is conducting on the ways in which government can help improve the life sciences sector. The Office for Life Sciences is a partnership between Government and the life sciences industry working to produce policies that support the sector’s growth in the UK. The body is typically industry-focused and this is a significant opportunity for CR-UK to put forward our thoughts on the sector.

The review will set out the current state and challenges facing the life sciences sector as well as outlining aspirations and the potential for new growth. CR-UK will be submitting a response to a questionnaire and also be taking part in meetings with officials from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Department of Health. The OLS review is being conducted alongside several other reviews into the life sciences sector with a second plan for growth, NHS innovation review and a government commitment to produce a research and innovation strategy, which are all currently being discussed.

The New European Directive on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes, which replaces the Directive that was transposed into UK legislation by the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA), came into force in November 2010. The majority of this directive must be implemented in the UK by January 2013. The Directive sets minimum standards to which member states must comply. Cancer Research UK consulted with our scientist and researchers, to prepare a response to the consultation, which was recently submitted.

In June 2011 the Home Office issued a consultation paper to seek comments from interested parties on the options for transposing the Directive.

A great deal of cancer research is carried out without using animals. In certain areas, however, animal research remains essential if we are to understand, prevent and cure cancer. Cancer Research UK only uses animals when there is no alternative.

We want to ensure that UK legislation continues to provide a supportive environment for research, whilst protecting the high standards for animal welfare for which the UK should rightly be proud.

The UK currently possesses the most detailed, effective and workable legislation in the EU. We are determined that this should be retained during the transposition of Directive 2010/63/EU to avoid a step backwards in consideration of animal health and welfare.

The Health and Social Care Bill will have its Third Reading and Report Stage on Tuesday 6th and Wednesday 7th September. These debates mark the final stage of the Bill’s journey through the Commons. Cancer Research UK is issuing a briefing to all MPs: we wish to demonstrate our success on influencing the research aspects of the Bill, but maintain pressure on our early diagnosis and commissioning calls. The Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC) will also issue a joint briefing on behalf of its member charities to MPs.

On early diagnosis, we remain concerned about the potential impact of the fragmentation of responsibility for public health on cancer prevention and early diagnosis. On commissioning, we would like more detail about how the Government will ensure Clinical Commissioning Groups will use expertise, such as that residing in cancer networks, when commissioning cancer services.

The Bill will then be debated in the House of Lords in early to mid October. It is expected the line by line scrutiny of the Bill (Committee Stage) will take at least up to Christmas in the Lords.

We have already held an expert briefing attended by peers on clinical research, and held a number of one to one meetings with Lords with a particular interest in research.

Over the last few weeks, the Government has released two important sets of cancer waiting times statistics, covering the period from April 2010 to June 2011. These statistics show how long cancer patients, who go through the urgent referral route, are waiting for before they are seen by a consultant, and receive their first treatment. This is important because we know that treatment for cancer is more effective the earlier it can be given. Our Policy Development and Cancer Statistics teams analysed both sets of data, in terms of the waiting times, the number of people being referred to specialists, and how these statistics are spread out across regions in England and Primary Care Trusts (PCTs).

The good news for cancer patients is that all of the Government’s ‘operational standards’ (the new Government removed many health ‘targets’, but kept these measures, as they believe them to be ‘clinically justified’) continue to be met. During 2010-11 there was a slight increase from 2009-10, and in the first quarter of 2011-12 a small decrease. The number of referrals to a specialist for suspected cancers has also been generally increasing, which again is good news for cancer patients. All regions in England are also meeting all of the Government’s operational standards, along with the vast majority of PCTs. Every PCT has hit the two week wait to see a specialist operational standard either for April 2010 to March 2011, or for April to June 2011.

The Policy Development team will continue to monitor what impact the NHS reforms have on waiting times and referral numbers at a national, regional and local level, and will also investigate other referral routes for cancer that are not included in the main figures, such as referrals through Accident and Emergency.

Rushanara Ali MP recently visited a Cancer Awareness Roadshow event in Bethnal Green, where along with visitors she was taught how to spot cancer early.

Ms Ali joined nurses at the Cancer Awareness Roadshow at the Bethnal Green Market to learn more about how people in Bethnal Green and Bow can reduce their risk of cancer and spot signs and symptoms of the disease at an early stage. The Roadshow is organised by Cancer Research UK, and the nurses on board provide information to visitors on the link between lifestyle and cancer, the signs and symptoms of cancer, and the importance of screening.

Rushanara Ali MP said: “I was very impressed with my visit to the Roadshow and the vitally important advice and information that it provides. Its shocking that around three people in London are diagnosed with cancer every hour.

“When cancer is diagnosed at an early stage, treatment is often simpler and more likely to be effective. However in Tower Hamlets cancer is often diagnosed at a late stage. I wholeheartedly support Cancer Research UK’s call to spot cancer as soon as possible. Early detection saves lives.”

Cancer Awareness Roadshow nurse, Ceri Eames said: “We were delighted to have Rushanara Ali MP on board helping us to spread the word. More people than ever are now surviving cancer, but thousands of cancer deaths could still be prevented each year if more cancers were diagnosed at an early stage.

“If you notice any unusual or persistent changes in your body, visit your GP without delay. If it is something serious then finding it early could make all the difference.”

Cancer Research UK’s Cancer Awareness Roadshow will be stationed in Bethanl Green Market from 10 am – 3 pm on 23 – 25 August. For free, visitors can talk to a specialist nurse in a private consultation room, take a Body Mass Index (BMI) test to find out whether their weight is within a healthy range and pick up useful health information to take away.

Since launching in 2006, in partnership with the Marie Keating Foundation, the Cancer Awareness Roadshow has seen more than 190,000 visitors in over 200 cities and towns across the UK.

To find out more about the Cancer Awareness Roadshow and how to detect cancer early visit www.cancerawarenessroadshow.org. To find out more about the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust Bowel Cancer Screening Programme please call 0800 707 6060.

The Australian House of Representatives has put their country on course to become the first in the world to have plain packaging of tobacco. The main Bill was passed unanimously with cross-party support and it now moves to the Senate, where it is expected to pass easily.

Unsuccessful Opposition amendments were to change the Bill so that trademarks on the smallest sides of big, multi-pack cartons would be allowed - on the grounds it would help shopkeepers with poor English. They also contested some of the powers given to the Government in how it interprets the legislation.

The Australian government has some severe political problems, however, commentators say it is very unlikely to fall before the Senate vote in three weeks’ time.

Globally, 36 million people died in 2008 from non-communicable diseases (NCDs), 80% of them in low and middle income countries with inadequate access to prevention, treatment and care, and this number is set to grow rapidly unless timely action is taken. However negotiations on the Political Declaration for the HLM stalled on 5 August and are due to resume on 1 September.

It has been reported that proposals to include time-bound commitments and goals in the Declaration are being systematically deleted, diluted and downgraded and that the EU has played a prominent role in this weakening of the text. In place of the promised “action-oriented outcomes”, it seems there may be reference only to “consider” and “work towards” low cost measures that, if implemented effectively, have the potential to save millions of lives. This is a wasted opportunity for the UK (and the EU) to play a role as a leader in public health.

In letters to Andrew Lansley copied to Andrew Mitchell, Anne Milton and the UK Ambassador to the UN, as well as to key EU figures, we have urged the UK and the EU to push for:

• an overarching goal to reduce preventable deaths from NCDs by 25% by 2025;
• a clear timeline for tackling the epidemic of the four major NCDs: cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular and chronic respiratory disease;
• a set of specific, evidence-based ambitions and indicators;
• a high-level collaborative initiative of government and UN agencies with civil society to stimulate and assess progress.

The Scottish Government has announced plans to increase the number of people diagnosed in the earliest stages of cancer by 25 per cent. The Detect Cancer Early initiative aims to save more than 300 lives a year by the end of the next Parliamentary term, and £30m has been pledged to support its implementation.

With an initial focus on bowel, breast and lung cancer, the draft implementation plan - which is currently out for consultation with stakeholders – outlines tactics including:

• Increasing public awareness of signs and symptoms
• Working with GPs to promote earlier referral and investigation
• Improving informed consent and participation in national screening programmes
• Increasing capacity in diagnostic facilities
• Strengthening data collection to demonstrate improvement

Commenting on the launch, Sarah Woolnough, Cancer Research UK’s director of policy, said: “Despite huge improvements in recent decades, research shows that one of the major reasons that cancer survival in Scotland still lags behind the best performing countries in the world is late diagnosis. And when cancer is detected early, treatment is more likely to be effective. Cancer Research UK looks forward to working with the Scottish Government to improve symptom awareness among the public, encourage prompt visits to the doctor and support GPs to diagnose cancer as early as possible.”

Cancer Research UK has been calling for a dedicated focus on early detection in Scotland. In our 2010 report, Improving Cancer Outcomes, we stated that the Scottish Government, cancer plan, Better Cancer Care, had had a significant impact on the development of cancer services in Scotland, but that promoting awareness and early diagnosis of cancer had not been given sufficient priority. We were therefore delighted that the SNP made this a manifesto commitment, and have acted swiftly to launch this initiative.

The National Cancer Director, Professor Sir Mike Richards, has called for more investment in radiotherapy and a continued commitment to data collection.

On Monday 25th July, he joined radiotherapy experts, including Cancer Research UK’s Professor Tim Maughan, at the Royal Marsden Hospital to discuss how to ensure that all patients who could benefit from radiotherapy are getting access to the most up to date treatments. 

Watch the video in full at www.royalmarsden.nhs.uk

Additionally, the Government has published the first annual report of data about radiotherapy in the NHS. The report only provides a snapshot of the data that are available, but it shows that access to radiotherapy varies according to where in the country you live and that the amount of radiotherapy given by each machine varies across the country.

The Public Affairs team has organised two local events in the last month, in Manchester and Walthamstow, London.

Tony Lloyd MP, Mark Hunter MP and Sajjad Karim MEP visited the Paterson Institute for Cancer Research in Manchester where they witnessed the range of groundbreaking scientific research currently being carried out there.

Cancer Research UK scientists based at The Paterson Institute for Cancer Research work with other researchers and medical staff to take promising discoveries from the lab and develop them into potential treatments for cancer. They are currently developing new treatments for bowel, stomach, pancreatic and lung cancer. Last year, Cancer Research UK spent over £16 million on research in Manchester. Much of this funding goes towards the pioneering work of the doctors and scientists at the Paterson Institute for Cancer Research.

In Walthamstow, local MP Stella Creasy visited a Cancer Awareness Roadshow event where along with visitors, she was taught how to spot cancer early. Ms Creasy joined nurses at the Cancer Awareness Roadshow at the Walthamstow Town Square to learn more about how people in Walthamstow can reduce their risk of cancer and spot signs and symptoms of the disease at an early stage.

3 November 2010 saw our first ever ‘Parliament Day’ in Westminster, calling for earlier cancer diagnosis by condensing the traditional charity campaign model into a single day. Nine months later, the campaign has now been shortlisted for ‘Innovative Campaign of the Year’ for the Public Affairs News Awards. We’re up against Breakthrough Breast Cancer and the RSPCA, with the winner decided at an awards ceremony in November.

Here’s a reminder of what our campaign involved:

• Parliament Day was far more than just another lobby: we seamlessly combined patient advocacy, lobbying by senior staff, regional media, PR, Parliamentary events and social media to simultaneously reach Government, Parliament and Whitehall. In just one day, we held:
• Lobby of Parliament: 71 Ambassadors, our most dedicated campaigners, travelled to Parliament for 52 meetings with MPs and researchers. They included scientists, cancer patients, survivors and carers, many of whom had never campaigned before. Our oldest Ambassador was 80, the youngest just 18. Fired up by training from medical experts and Lord Willis, they persuaded over 80% of the MPs to write to Andrew Lansley.
• Downing Street Photoshoot: Nine-year-old cancer survivor Georgia Morgan met David Cameron at Number 10 to show how she, and thousands like her, benefit from our life-saving research.
• High level meetings: Our senior staff held 12 meetings across Whitehall and Westminster, including a Minister, a Select Committee Chair, the shadow health team and senior DH and BIS civil servants.
• Westminster reception: An evening event attracted yet more MPs, Peers and Ministers, including Iain Duncan Smith MP, allowing CEO Harpal Kumar to drive home early diagnosis messages.
• Press: We secured national press for our photo-shoot with David Cameron and regional coverage in at least seven of the nine regions covered by Ambassadors, including live radio interviews from the Commons.
• Social media: As well as live-tweeting the whole day, our interactive Google Map showed the Ambassadors’ home towns with quotes and photos of them getting ready. Our hugely popular video of the day shows the impact we made.

Just a month later Andrew Lansley announced £25m to give GPs better access to cancer diagnostics while his new Cancer Strategy commits to improving collection of staging data at diagnosis, and £450m additional spend on cancer. Diagnosing cancer earlier could save around 10,000 lives each year in the UK. Our integrated, imaginative, innovative event embodies our vision: Together, we will beat cancer.

The team would like to say a big thank you to everyone who helped to make the day so special and successful.

As more and more decisions are made at a local level, how do we continue to have the amazing impact we’ve had in the past? How do we demonstrate our local impact to policy makers?

Elaine Londesborough-van Rooyen has recently returned from maternity leave into a new role as Local Influencing Manager in the Policy Department. Working part-time, Elaine will seek to address the challenges that the localism agenda pose for us as an organisation that seeks to influence policy.

We know there is lots of work already being undertaken in local engagement across Cancer Research UK and many people who are very linked in with their communities. We would love to hear from you if you are involved in a project you think might be relevant or you have a view on how we could wield our influence at a local level.

For more information or to talk to Elaine about the local engagement work you do please email elaine.londesborough-vanrooyen@cancer.org.uk or phone 020 3469 8561.

Walthamstow MP Stella Creasy this week visited a Cancer Awareness Roadshow event in Walthamstow, where along with visitors, she was taught how to spot cancer early.

Ms Creasy joined nurses at the Cancer Awareness Roadshow at the Walthamstow Town Square to learn more about how people in Walthamstow can reduce their risk of cancer and spot signs and symptoms of the disease at an early stage.

The Roadshow is organised by Cancer Research UK, and the nurses on board provide information to visitors on the link between lifestyle and cancer, the signs and symptoms of cancer, and the importance of screening.

Ms Creasy said: “I was very impressed with my visit to the Roadshow and the vitally important advice and information that it provides. I enjoyed meeting the nurses, and was shocked to hear that around three people in London are diagnosed with cancer every hour.”

“When cancer is diagnosed at an early stage, treatment is often simpler and more likely to be effective. So I wholeheartedly support Cancer Research UK’s call to spot cancer as soon as possible. Early detection saves lives.”

Cancer Awareness Roadshow nurse, Ceri Eames said:  “We were delighted to have Stella Creasy MP on board helping us to spread the word. More people than ever are now surviving cancer, but thousands of cancer deaths could still be prevented each year if more cancers were diagnosed at an early stage.

“If you notice any unusual or persistent changes in your body, visit your GP without delay. If it is something serious then finding it early could make all the difference.”

Since launching in 2006, in partnership with the Marie Keating Foundation, the Cancer Awareness Roadshow has seen more than 190,000 visitors in over 200 cities and towns across the UK.

To find out more about the Cancer Awareness Roadshow and how to detect cancer early visit www.cancerawarenessroadshow.org.

On 12th July, Cancer Research UK researchers, ambassadors, fundraisers and staff from across the UK converged on Parliament for the first ever Cancer Research UK Regional Reception.

The Strangers’ Dining Room in the House of Commons was split into twelve sections, with researchers, ambassadors and fundraisers on hand to explain their work to MPs from their region. The aims of the event were to demonstrate Cancer Research UK’s local work across the UK, that it is only possible to fund this because of the generosity of our supporters as we receive no government funding, and that we spend our money wisely.

The event was hosted by Penny Mordaunt MP, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Life Sciences, who gave a short speech to open the event. There were also speeches from the Chief Executive of Cancer Research UK, Harpal Kumar, Anne Milton MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Public Health, and Cancer Campaigns Ambassador Tony Selman.

The day was a great success with MPs, researchers, fundraisers and ambassadors all positive about the valuable conversations that were had, and we look forward to future events.

Photo: Penny Mordaunt MP (right) with the Chair of Portsmouth Relay for Life Sandy Parkinson

Lorely Burt MP visited a Cancer Awareness Roadshow event in Solihull on 8 July 2011, where along with visitors, she was taught how to spot cancer early.

Ms Burt joined nurses at the Cancer Awareness Roadshow at the Mell Square shopping centre in Solihull to learn more about how people in Solihull can reduce their risk of cancer and spot signs and symptoms of the disease at an early stage.

During her visit Ms Burt met Solihull administrative assistant Marcella Floyd (54) whose symptoms were caught in time to prevent her developing bowel cancer. Marcella, from Shirley, had surgery in 2009 to remove half her bowel along with a pre-cancerous tumour after her daughter nagged her to visit the doctor with possible bowel cancer symptoms.

She said: “It was a pleasure to meet Lorely Burt MP and stress to her the importance of early detection. Without a doubt, if the growth in my bowel had been left it would have become cancerous. My daughter was studying to become a nurse at the time so I have her to thank for nagging me. I’m sure she saved my life.”

Ms Burt said: “I was very impressed with my visit to the Roadshow and the vitally important advice and information that it provides. I particularly enjoyed meeting Marcella and the representatives from the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust, and was shocked to hear that around three people in the West Midlands are diagnosed with cancer every hour. When cancer is diagnosed at an early stage, treatment is often simpler and more likely to be effective. So I wholeheartedly support Cancer Research UK’s call to spot cancer as soon as possible. Early detection saves lives.”

Cancer Awareness Roadshow nurse, Christine Campbell said: “We were delighted to have Lorely Burt MP on board helping us to spread the word. More people than ever are now surviving cancer, but thousands of cancer deaths could still be prevented each year if more cancers were diagnosed at an early stage. If you notice any unusual or persistent changes in your body, visit your GP without delay. If it is something serious then finding it early could make all the difference.”

Photo: Lorely Burt MP (centre), pictured at her local Cancer Awareness Roadshow with (left-right), Christine Campbell (nurse), Marcella Flloyd (patient representative), and two representatives from the Heart of England Bowel Cancer Screening Service.

Following the UK Government’s pledge to reduce the net immigration of non-EU internationals to the UK through the points-based system, Cancer Research UK has contributed to several reviews and discussions with the UK Border Agency to ensure that the recruitment of skilled scientists is not unduly restricted.

The most recent consultation considers changes to the rules regarding temporary visas and settlement.

This includes proposals to make tier 2 (the route applicable to most scientists and researchers from outside the EU) a temporary route except in exceptional circumstances. This may deter scientists from applying to the UK if they want a research position that lasts longer than the five year limit. The review also includes proposals to restrict tier 5 to 12 months which may not be long enough for some research projects that are currently covered through this visa route.

Cancer Research UK is putting together a response to the consultation, and will be working closely with others in the community, including the Wellcome Trust and the Academy of Medical Sciences, to ensure that the Government is aware of the issues for science surrounding these recommendations.

The European Union recently revised the directive governing the use of animals in research across the EU. The directive has to be transposed into UK law by November 2012. The Home Office has therefore launched a consultation on the transposition of the directive.

The deadline for the consultation is September 5th 2011.

Cancer Research UK is currently consulting with researchers to put together an organisation-wide response, to ensure that the revised directive is transposed in a way that is supportive of the research that we conduct.

In addition, the Home Office published the annual statistics on the number of animals used in research in the UK on Wednesday, which showed an increase in numbers compared with the previous year.

The coalition agreement included a pledge: “to reduce the use of animals in scientific research and end the testing of household products on animals”

Martin Walsh, Head of the Home Office’s animal scientific procedure division, was reported on Thursday to say that a consultation exploring how to do this will be published by the Home Office before the summer recess.

In the recently published Higher Education white paper, the government mentioned a planned strategy on research and innovation.

“We are rolling out a programme of Technology Innovation Centres and, later this year, we will publish an innovation and research strategy which will explore the roles of knowledge creation, business investment, skills and training, and the public sector in innovation and growth performance”

This will be led by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and is expected to be published in the autumn.

Innovation in the NHS

The Plan for Growth promised a report by November 2011 on how the adoption and diffusion of innovations can be accelerated across the NHS. The review will be led by David Nicholson, who has tasked Sir Ian Carruthers with consulting on this issue:

The deadline for the consultation is 31st August 2011.

Cancer Research UK is currently putting together a response for the review, and is investigating the possibility of meeting with the key people involved to discuss this issue further.

The First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones, has announced that legislation to ban smoking in cars carrying children could be considered later in the current five-year Assembly term if children's exposure to second-hand smoke did not reduce as a result of planned stop smoking interventions and campaigns.

Mr Jones said a ban would be designed to protect children from second-hand smoke, as well as encouraging adults to give up smoking.

Dr Tony Jewell, the Chief Medical Officer for Wales, added that there would be “wider long term public health benefits too, as evidence shows that children are also more likely to pick up the smoking habit and continue smoking in their adult years if their parents smoke in front of them." We welcomed the Welsh Government’s commitment to protecting children from tobacco smoke and to raising awareness of the dangers of smoking around children.

Over the last month and a half, ten MPs and MEPs have visited their local Cancer Research UK shops to promote Volunteers’ Week, which runs from 1-7 June every year.

The visits are a great way for MPs to meet some of our 42,000 volunteers who make our life-saving work possible, learn about what Cancer Research UK does in their constituencies, and provide a great way for us to engage with MPs on policy issues on both a national and local basis.

The 2011 shop visits were a great success, with George Osborne MP (Knutsford shop), Paul Burstow MP (Cheam shop), Harriet Harman MP (Camberwell Green shop), Danny Alexander MP (Inverness shop), Francis Maude MP (Horsham shop), Jo Swinson MP (Milngavie shop), Angela Eagle MP (Moreton shop), Dan Jarvis MP (Barnsley shop), George Freeman MP (Dereham shop), and Marina Yannakoudakis MEP (North Finchley shop) all rolling their sleeves up to help out.

All of the MPs had a great time meeting just a few of the people who are so important to Cancer Research UK, and had some very useful discussions about the NHS reorganisation and other relevant issues. Thank you to everyone who helped to make these visits the great success they were, and we look forward to next year’s visits!

On 4th July, Vicky Crichton, Public Affairs Manager, and Sarah Woolnough, Director of Policy, met with new Northern Ireland Health Minister, Edwin Poots.

We welcomed his early announcement to approve plans for a radiotherapy satellite centre in the North West of the region.

This centre, due to open in 2016, will ensure that radiotherapy capacity in Northern Ireland is sufficient to meet the needs of the population, and will reduce travel times for patients. We also discussed plans for the implementation of the Cancer Service Framework - Northern Ireland’s cancer plan - and urged the Minister to consider a greater focus on improving early diagnosis of cancer.

On screening, we discussed the introduction of new technologies such as HPV testing for cervical cancer and the flexiscope test in the bowel cancer screening programme, as well as the status of the existing screening programmes. We also touched on prevention issues such as sunbed regulation, where Northern Ireland has the strongest legislation in the UK, and tobacco control, where we hope to see progress on point of sale displays and vending machines soon.

We were delighted to have this early opportunity to meet with the Minister, and hope to work closely with him, and his officials, in the coming months and years.

Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) celebrated its 40th birthday with a reception in Parliament on June 15th attended by numerous MPs and peers.

Stephen Williams, chair of the All-party parliamentary group (APPG) on smoking and health, observed that all 3 speakers at the event –himself, Anne Milton and Kevin Barron- had been recipients of a Cancer Research UK award for their part in getting smokefree legislation.

They spoke about ASH’s many achievements over four decades. ASH is funded by Cancer Research UK and the British Heart Foundation (and until recently the Department of Health) and has been at the forefront of policy development, exposure of tobacco industry tactics and new legislation.

ASH also launched a new report called Tobacconomics which reveals how tobacco companies trying to block new health regulations are also misleading shareholders. For example Imperial Tobacco repeatedly told its Annual General Meeting that Ireland’s tobacco tax revenue had fallen by half a billion pounds – almost half – after Ireland banned tobacco displays in 2009, whereas official Irish Government statistics show that revenue actually increased by almost 50 million euros (£44.5m) in that period. The report demonstrates that this is not an isolated error but part of a consistent pattern intended to mislead and block public health policies.

Other examples in the report include claims that England’s smokefree law in 2007 has harmed England’s licensed trade, yet official statistics show that the number of licensed premises increased by around 5% in the year following implementation of the legislation. Also, BAT commissioned a report which claimed that tobacco display bans were linked to a 2% increase in youth smoking in Canada. The claim was then recycled by a retailers’ group receiving support from BAT and ultimately was used in parliamentary debates and in political blogs. However, during the period when Canadian display bans were introduced official statistics show no increase in the proportion of teenage smokers.

The report illustrates how industry-funded analysts produce unbalanced and misleading reports which are recycled by lobbyists and front groups and in due course crop up in the speeches by politicians so that misinformation becomes accepted as ‘fact’.

The Government has responded to the Future Forum report, setting out amendments to the NHS reform programme.

The Government has announced that there will be a new duty for the Secretary of State to promote research. GP consortia, which will now be renamed ‘Clinical Commissioning Groups’ (CCGs) to reflect widened membership will also have a new duty to promote research and innovation and the use of research evidence, in line with the current duty on the NHS Commissioning Board. 

Steps will be taken to ensure that a culture of research and innovation is embedded in the arrangements for both the Board and Public Health England and CCGs and the NHS Commissioning Board will be required to ensure that treatment costs for patients who are taking part in research funded by Government and research charity partner organisations are funded through normal arrangements for commissioning patient care, as set out in existing guidance. We are delighted that the changes announced commit all parts of the NHS to promoting and supporting research - from the Secretary of State to clinical commissioning groups. We are also extremely pleased that the Government has committed to ensuring the treatment costs of research are paid by the NHS. This will help avoid unnecessary bureaucracy and delays

As well as improvements to how research is promoted and conducted in the NHS, the Government has announced that CCGs will involve patients and carers and a wide range of doctors, nurses and other health professionals. They will have flexibility to work in partnership when commissioning services but will be unable to delegate commissioning responsibility and decisions to private companies or contractors.

Clinical networks of experts, such as cancer networks will be strengthened and given a stronger role in commissioning. Clinical senates will be established to enable health professionals to come together to give expert advice, which clinical commissioning groups will be expected to follow. As CCGs develop their commissioning plans, Health and Wellbeing Boards will be involved throughout the process, and there will be a strong expectation, set out in statutory guidance, for the plans to be in line with the local health and wellbeing strategy.

Cancer Research UK welcomes the commitment to involve other clinicians in commissioning. It is essential that CCGs obtain appropriate advice from cancer commissioning experts and that information about what an excellent service looks like and the current quality of different cancer services is available to ensure they effectively commission services.

It is critical that there is accountability for delivering the Government’s ambition to save 5000 additional lives each year by 2014 through earlier cancer diagnosis. Both the public health service and GP consortia have a role in delivering early diagnosis and joint incentives should be developed to prioritise this, such as shared indicators in the Public Health and NHS Outcomes Frameworks.

Cancer Research UK will be working hard to ensure cancer remains high on the government’s agenda as the reforms are implemented and that research and innovation is properly embedded with the new structures in the NHS to help ensure improving outcomes for patients.

Harpal Kumar, Cancer Research UK’s chief executive, said: “We welcome the Government’s response to the Future Forum report and in particular, are delighted at the proposed changes on research.

“Establishing research as part of the core culture of the NHS is critical if we’re to improve cancer survival. Patients who are treated in places where clinical research is integral to patient care can access new treatments more quickly, and are more likely to survive their cancer.

“So we’re delighted that the changes announced commit all parts of the NHS to promoting and supporting research – from the Secretary of State to clinical commissioning groups. We are also extremely pleased that the Government has committed to ensuring the treatment costs of research are paid by the NHS. This will help avoid unnecessary bureaucracy and delays.

“The UK has an enviable record on research – at least one in six cancer patients is now involved in clinical research – and the changes to the Bill give us an excellent opportunity to build on this success. We will be closely monitoring how the changes work on the ground.

“We also welcome the commitment to clinical networks and clinical senates. Involving a range of experts in cancer commissioning and ensuring different parts of the service are joined up is crucial to delivering high quality treatment for a complex set of conditions like cancer.

“In taking the proposals forward, the Government will need to give further thought to how it holds different parts of the health service accountable for improvements in cancer outcomes. The Government has committed to saving an additional 5,000 lives per year by 2015 by diagnosing cancers early and ensuring optimal treatment. Achieving this goal will require work by the public health service and the NHS and we need a very clear sense of who is accountable for delivery and how these arrangements will work in practice.”