Jon Ashworth’s speech at Britain Against Cancer Conference – CLIC Sargent’s response

The Shadow Health Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Jon Ashworth, has today backed several CLIC Sargent campaign issues for Children and Young People with cancer at today’s Britain Against Cancer conference in London including the Young Cancer Patient Travel fund.

Jon Ashworth used his speech, with evidence from CLIC Sargent research, to highlight key issues that many children and young people with cancer face and stressing Labour’s commitment to supporting these families ‘throughout treatment, diagnosis and beyond’.

These pledges include:

• Introducing a Young Person’s Cancer Fund to support young people and families with the cost of travelling to treatment.
• Ensuring the Cancer Patient Experience Survey includes under 16s and young people for the first time ever.
• Ensuring every hospital has free, high quality WIFI accessible in wards for all patients.
• Providing every child or young person with a cancer diagnosis, and their parents/carers, with mental health and emotional wellbeing support throughout diagnosis, treatment and beyond.
• Investing in, and ensuring access to, hospital school provision so children and young people continue in education.

Clare Laxton, Associate Director of Policy and Influencing, said: “It’s great that Jon Ashworth and Labour have again pledged to create a Young Cancer Patient Travel Fund following our campaign to help families plunged into debt travelling many miles for vital treatment.

“We welcome the focus on children and young people for the first time at the Britain Against Cancer conference and it’s great to see our research is being used to influence policy. It’s important that this speech also recognised the emotional, not just the physical burden of treatment, on young people and their families.

“It is a great step to highlight these issues but we will continue to campaign for a commitment in the NHS Long Term Plan and for the government to take action. We look forward to our discussions with the Cancer Minister, Steve Brine MP, later this week to talk about how to tackle the costs of travel young cancer patients and their families incur to and from specialist treatment.”