Found out on Friday night what I most feared after our CEO had her meeting with Minister Ellisons office - there is no money for any childrens cancer awareness campaign like HeadSmart. Im deeply distressed it took 6 months to receive that information - I was expecting it given austerity but thats not the point. Worse still Public Health England will not include HeadSmart on their Be Clear on Cancer awareness campaign because our disease cohort - I call them children and young people - is not large enough. Also apparently the public cant manage multiple symptoms awareness campaigns. I find this all bizarre and I do not understand why Ive been misled about the money for these 3 years. Im sure its the law of unintended consequences that the governments flagship cancer awareness campaign includes earlier breast cancer diagnosis in the over 70s but excludes their grandchildren because there arent enough of them so Im seeking confirmation that the Minister (she was not present on Friday) will seek to correct this anomaly when the campaign is next reviewed. Ive also asked for the evidence that the public cant cope with multiple symptoms when our campaign evidence contradicts this and so does the meningitis campaign. The methodology currently being used that separates awareness from early diagnosis is also flawed: I was not aware as a mother of the symptoms and therefore arrived already late at my excellent GPs with my by now critically ill child (although he didnt look it) for the beginning of our diagnosis pathway. Parents must be regarded as part of this and not separate. Ive also begged again that we get a statement to reassure the public about how good our specialist childrens cancer services are - our leukaemia results are world class, its late diagnosis that is ruining our results for brain tumours. Send me strength. xS
Posted on: Mon, 26 Jan 2015 10:50:33 +0000
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