'You said.... we did' (or plan to do) Newsletter
We have discussed the results from the Cancer Information & Support Survey with the Patient Led Steering Group and the Macmillan Information & Support Centres in Northamptonshire and here is what we plan to do.
A HUGE thank you to all those involved in the
Patient Led Steering Group so far,
we couldn't have achieved this without you.
Financial
Info & Support Text Message
.jpg)
Walking
Increase Awareness
Pharmacies
Site Specific Support Group
Reaching Marginalised Groups
Financial
You said....
“It passed more than 6 months after diagnosed by cancer, I didn't get any benefit or financial support from county council or pension credits”
Only 33% of respondents felt that they had the right amount of information about Citizens Advice and possible benefits.
43% of respondents didn’t know about Macmillan Citizens Advice & benefits.
94% of those that had used Macmillan Citizens Advice service found it ok, helpful or very helpful.
57% of survey respondents said they would use a Macmillan Citizen's Advice Clinic if it was in a community setting.
... We did (or plan to do)
We have already updated the Financial Information Videos on YouTube
We have planned 2 Live Financial Information Question & Answer sessions in the next 6 months:
-
18th March 2025 10am - 11am Register here
-
9th June 2025 6pm - 7pm Register here
We are hoping to work with Citizen’s Advice to run some extra Cancer Citizen's sessions but in Community Setting so that people don't have to travel to and park at the Hospitals.
Walking
You said....
“Walk and talk would always be my first choice, being able to meet and chat with people out in nature.”
51% of respondents would use Cancer Walking Groups.
43% of respondents reported that they would use a Wellbeing Walking Group that was not specific to Cancer.
... We did (or plan to do)
We are increasing the Daventry Wellbeing Walk from monthly to weekly from beginning of February.
-
Daventry Country Park. Daventry NN11 2JB.
Meets every Wednesday excluding bank holidays at 10am (Meeting point by the Playground).
Macmillan Health & Wellbeing Event Programme: January to June 2025
We have also offered the opportunity for Primary Care Cancer Champions to be trained up to become Wellbeing Walk Leaders so hopefully there may be more Wellbeing Walks coming soon across the county.
Pharmacies
You said....
“It would be great to have information in Supermarket Pharmacies.”
67% of respondents said they would access written Cancer Information at Local Pharmacy.
... We did (or plan to do)
We are going to be extending the Primary Care Cancer Champions Scheme to Pharmacies across Northamptonshire.
The role will be slightly different as they will be providing Information booklets and signposting, not offering support as many of the current Primary Care Cancer Champions do.
Click here to read more about the Primary Care Cancer Champions
Reaching Marginalised Groups
You said....
“I think our community centres and community churches will work best to access information”
Black and Asian respondents reported more barriers to accessing Information & Support than White British respondents.
... We did (or plan to do)
We are going to work with The Power of The Mind Network in Wellingborough, which is a Social Inclusion organisation to find out what the community want for Cancer Information & Support.
Power of the Mind Networks | Storytelling Community
We plan to include more people from marginalised groups in our videos on the YouTube Channel.
Info & Support Text message
You said....
“I think it would have been helpful if someone had contacted me rather than me having to reach out”
In the Cancer Informaiton & Support Survey, there were many free text comments about being contacted by phone to inform them of what support was available would be helpful.
... We did (or plan to do)
When discussing this with our Patient Led Steering Group about how we could manage to make the phone calls to patients as staffing levels do not allow for this, a member of the group suggested that we could send out an introductory text message instead of a phone call, possibly offering a call back if they wanted it.
This is a great idea and we are waiting to hear back from our IT department as to how we can get access to a system to be able to send out text messages. We hope to then have a link to an introductory video about the Information & Support that is available at the Macmillan Information & Support Centres in Northamptonshire.
Increase Awareness
You said....
“If I knew of support available, I would have accessed them.”
Only 23% of respondents were aware of the YouTube channel. 63% of respondents reported would use it.
31% of respondents reported 'not knowing what is available' was a barrier to accessing Information & Support.
There was a total of 715 votes for which slogan should be on a new teapot shaped leaflet and the winner, with 46% of the vote was:
'There is always a brew...
...waiting for you.'
... We did (or plan to do)
We are in the process of finalising the Teapot design leaflet with the slogan 'There is always a Brew.... waiting for you' that was voted for.
We will use the same slogan to create promotional posters and videos that can be shown in the hospital waiting areas and also within Doctors Surgeries.
We are also looking into ways to increase awareness of the YouTube channel:
Welcome to the Northants Cancer Information Hub
One of the things we are looking at is Search Engine Optimisation which is is the name given to work that makes sure more people find your website in Google™ and the other major search engines.
In December 2024 we did a presentation to staff at Northamptonshire Healthcare Foundation Trust (NHFT) which is the Community & Mental Health NHS Trust in Northamptonshire.
The presentation covered:
-
The impact of a Cancer diagnosis
-
The role of a Cancer Clinical Nurse Specialist
-
What is Personalised Care
-
Finances & Citizen's Advice Support available
-
Work Rights & how support staff at work Click here for Macmillan at Work | Macmillan Cancer Support
-
ExTRa (Explore, Tour & Reassure)
-
Side Effects of Treatment
-
Supporting Carers Click here for Northamptonshire Carers
-
Health & Wellbeing Prospectus Click here
Macmillan Health & Wellbeing Event Programme -
Macmillan Information Outreach Project
-
Primary Care Cancer Champions Click here to find out more
We are booked to present the same presentation to staff at the Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board (NHS organisations responsible for planning health services for their local population.) in April 2025.
We hope to be able to present to staff at Northampton General Hospital and Kettering General Hospital soon as well.
Site Specific Support Groups
You said....
“The Breast Friends group is great.”
“We've attended a couple of meetings at Northampton Prostate Cancer Group, which we've found useful.”
80% of respondents who have used Local Cancer Site Specific Support Groups found them helpful or very helpful.
... We did (or plan to do)
Northampton's Head & Neck Radiographer, Maz, is President of The Swallows Head & Neck Cancer Charity for 2025. This will hopefully lead to a Head & Neck Cancer Support Group in Northamptonshire.
Click here for more about The Swallows Head & Neck Cancer Support
The Personalised Care Leads in Northamptonshire will work with Cancer Clinical Nurse Specialists to see what support they can offer to patients at the end of their treatment.
Northampton are getting a Maggie's towards the end of 2025. When they are up and running we can work with the Maggie's team to see what Site Specific Cancer Support Groups could be set up.
Click here to for more about Maggie's, Northampton