Patient Involvement

Leeds Cancer Services Website

Patient and Carer Involvement

Leeds Cancer Partnership Group

The Leeds Cancer Partnership Group is a group of patients, carers and healthcare professionals interested in improving services for all people living with cancer who have had experience of Leeds health care services.

Our aim is to contribute to the improvement of cancer services in Leeds by providing a patient and carer perspective.

What we do

We want to improve:

Standards of treatment and care
Patient information and communication
Development of new services
Patient / carer experiences of existing services

Rounded Rectangle: How you could contribute

• Come along to one of our meetings
• Help us raise issues of importance
• You can comment on the issues we are currently discussing by telephone, email, by post or in person.
• You can give us your views on how to gather more patient and carer views.

Some of our significant achievements to date include:

Advising on the New Oncology Wing

The group has had important involvement in the interior design of the new cancer wing at St James's University Hospital . This has included choosing colour themes and amending the location of bathrooms, so they are more convenient from a patients' point of view. This patient perspective is invaluable in making the building as good as it can be.

Improved access to information about the Hospital Travel Cost Scheme

The Hospital Travel Cost Scheme provides monetary assistance to people on low incomes and benefits when they are travelling to Hospital for appointments. Awareness about the scheme was initially shown to be relatively low, so the Partnership group worked closely with Information services to introduce a pilot of well displayed posters in departments and to add a standard paragraph to all first appointment letters for radiotherapy. The pilot was a huge success with a large increase in the number of eligible people claiming. The awareness campaign is now being rolled out across cancer services in the hospital.

Forum for offering advice for professionals

We have discussed our opinions on various matters with healthcare professionals who have sought patient / carer views on particular issues, for example:

Clinical Nurse Specialist Uniforms
Permanent record of consultation
Non Surgical Oncology Website

Please click here to see our achievements for 2007/2008

Please click here to see our achievements for 2008/2009

What you could gain

The chance to feel you are making a difference to Leeds cancer services and the patients/carers who use them.
The chance to represent people like you.
Training to enable all team members to work effectively together.

When we meet

The group currently meets every six weeks in Bexley Wing at St. James's Hospital, Leeds .

There is no cost to join the group. Any travel costs or other expenses can be reimbursed.

You do not have to make any long term commitment to the group. Why not come along and see what we discuss at a meeting? There would be no obligation to join.

Contact details

If you would like to be involved or have ideas to share, please contact either:

Krystina Kozlowska

Lead Cancer Nurse

Management Offices, Level 7,

St James's Institute of Oncology ,

Bexley Wing,

Beckett Street ,

Leeds ,

LS9 7TF

Telephone: 0113 206 8172

Email: krystina.kozlowska@leedsth.nhs.uk

Vicki James

Viva Project Coordinator