Open letter to the Government ahead of Monday’s Budget calling for a Young Cancer Patient Travel Fund

Ahead of Monday’s Budget announcement, we have written an open letter urging the Chancellor to establish a Young Cancer Patient Travel Fund to help families with the cost of getting to and from hospital.

Dear Chancellor,

More than 30,000 people signed CLIC Sargent’s recent petition calling on the Government to make more money available to families to help with the cost of travelling for their child’s cancer treatment via a Young Cancer Patient Travel Fund. Last month the Labour Party pledged its support to the call and committed to fund young cancer patient’s travel for treatment. Now, as the Budget approaches, we are calling on those in power to take action.

Thousands of young cancer patients and their families currently face having to find hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds simply to get to hospital and back for vital cancer treatment. This is not right.

Children and young people with cancer have to travel twice as far, and spend twice as much, as adults to get to and from hospital for crucial treatment. Often, families do not have the choice to go to their nearest hospital because childhood cancer requires specialist treatment, only available at a small number of hospitals across the UK.

The current system does not work. Under the current NHS’s Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme, just 6% of families receive any help with travel costs. The Government cannot ignore the call of tens of thousands of people to improve the system and ensure families should no longer have to face the threat of debt, or having to rely on family, friends or charity, because their child needs to get to hospital for life saving cancer treatment.

Signed

Kate Lee, Chief Executive of CLIC Sargent

Editor’s notes

Find out more about our Cancer Costs campaign.

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