Welcome to the Milton Keynes Cancer Patient Partnership

What we are

We are a patient-led partnership among cancer patients and carers, health professionals, and NHS admin staff – with the addition of input from other related groups in the community. The group was started on 2002 by cancer survivor Jaff Newton, along with a number of other cancer survivors, many of whom are still core members of the MKCPP today.

Our objective is to ensure that all local cancer voices:

• Patients and their carers
• Health professionals
• Key hospital admin staff
• Providers of ancillary services
• Voluntary groups

…are “on the same page,” so are able to react quickly, collectively and often pro-actively to patient feedback and solve problems promptly.

Currently we have a core membership of around 25 cancer patients, carers of cancer patients and some who have been both. The group is run very informally but has a Chair and a Secretary.

Although we reach out to all sectors of the cancer community in Milton Keynes and district, our key partnership is with the health professionals and key admin people who have responsibility for delivering hospital-based cancer care.

This includes the Head of Cancer Services, The Lead Cancer Nurse, The Cancer Manager, several senior Macmillan-accredited nurses, a number of consultants and even, when he is able to attend a meeting, the hospital’s Chief Executive.

We also have links with the following, who attend our meetings when they can:

• Hospital Chaplain
• Palliative care nurses
• Bereavement staff
• Counsellors
• Psychologists
• Community nurses
• Local hospice professionals
• Cancer support group representatives
• GP surgery PPG (Patient Participation Group) representatives
• Macmillan regional manager
• Local cancer charity representatives

What we do

At our bi-monthly meetings we bring our core membership together with our key partners, representatives of the other groups, and any invited observers.

In the 90 minute sessions we exchange news and updates of what is going on in the MK area that affects the cancer patient and carer experience, discuss the next steps and where appropriate, delegate action to a smaller Working Group.

Working Groups are relatively autonomous and can take decisions then report back to the plenary group. Nearly all WGs consist of at least one hospital health professional as well as MKCPP core members.

Also, we initiate projects pro-actively on a bespoke local basis to improve the overall patient/carer experience.

Elsewhere on the site you can read more about some of the larger projects the core members undertake, but here is a summary:

• Sharing of best practice arising from members’ experience working through Peer Review, Internal Validation, Annual Reviews (AGMs) etc.
• Attendance at and contribution to various clinical meetings – (e.g. at MK … Cancer Board, Joint Palliative Care, Breast Improvement Group, etc.)
• Instigation of Environment Audits to help support improvements in cancer-related outpatient clinical environments
• Active liaison with the local CCG and provision of useful feedback for them to share and digest
• Active liaison with local Hospices and their patient/carer support groups as relevant
• Attending and exhibiting at local health-related exhibitions, e.g. Healthwatch, to spread the word
• Encouragement of core members to network in their localities to seek word-of-mouth recommendations of potential/new group members
• If necessary, production of simple promotional material to be distributed by local Macmillan Units and cancer ANPs/CNSs, to encourage engagement of new members
• Taking advantage of training provided by Macmillan for patient/carer representative groups, and organising training days
• Creation of Facebook page and Twitter account
• Establishment from within membership of smaller Working Groups to tackle individual projects, given autonomy so they can move flexibly and quickly – reporting back to regular plenary meetings
• Retaining awareness of external environmental issues, e.g. gardens or grounds outside cancer treatment areas, and rallying members and/or seek local sponsors to work on them where relevant
• Creation of a local Patient Feedback Project including a Cancer Patient Journal and “patients/carers talking to patients/carers” facility to provide fast feedback of problems and delivery of solutions – can be a “drop by” desk in clinic or Macmillan facility or, pending appropriate approval, an on-ward activity
• Plans for children’s journal with Henry Allen Trust
• Launch of “Sharing the Caring for Cancer in (locality)” event (Macmillan funding may be available) to group together, homogenise and share all local facilities for recovering and ongoing cancer patients
• Creation of local Cancer Resources Directory (ongoing part of the “Sharing the Caring for Cancer” initiative) distributed to all newly diagnosed cancer patients as well as all other related groups
• Implementation and liaison with the Look Good, Feel Better charity involvement – based in Milton Keynes

What we are not

We are not a support group.

We are not a pressure group.

We are not an action group.

There is absolutely nothing adversarial about the way we work with our key partners, the health professionals and NHS managers, and our associates in various other groups and organisations.

True partnership, is truly productive.

Where and when we meet

Meetings are held at the hospital on either a Tuesday or a Wednesday every other month for about 90 minutes over a lunchtime, which allows the health professionals to join us during their lunch hours which they kindly donate.

Working Groups meet in various different locations, usually on hospital or GP practice premises.

For more information on this, check out the DIARY DATES page.

 

Sharing the Caring for Cancer in Milton Keynes