by Pamela McGowan
Following on from Fight Bladder Cancer’s recent success with the Scottish Parliament in February, representatives from Fight Bladder Cancer, including patients Ravi and Michael, volunteers Anne and Mary, and staff Sana Gilfillan and Lydia Makaroff, travelled to Westminster during Bladder Cancer Awareness Month, continuing efforts to raise awareness and bring the bladder cancer narrative to the forefront of the parliamentary agenda.
This incredible opportunity was secured by Fight Bladder Cancer Strategic Advisor Anne MacDowell, during the One Cancer Voice event at Downing Street in March, where more than sixty charities presented an almost 80,000-name-strong petition to the Prime Minister calling for fully funded, ambitious, long-term action on cancer. On this occasion, Anne had the chance to meet with Ministers of Parliament, inspiring one, Andy McDonald, MP for Middlesbrough, to join forces and subsequently invite fellow MPs to support Fight Bladder Cancer’s mission from within the lobbies of Westminster.
On May 17th, 2023, the enthused Fight Bladder Cancer team were met with a steady stream of interest, achieving a significant milestone toward delivering on one of their key priorities set out within the Exemplar Roundtable Report (included within, the charity made a commitment to approaching and collaborating with national policymakers to drive the implementation of a high-quality standardised pathway for England and the devolved nations) (1).
A fantastic job was carried out, engaging ministers and raising their awareness, while encouraging them to stand united against the UK’s fifth most common cancer. The event, heralded by the Fight Bladder Cancer team as having been a great first experience with parliament, received terrific support and resulted in just shy of twenty MPs from across England, Wales and Scotland taking to social media, keen to play their role in raising awareness, and ultimately striving to make a difference to patient experience and outcomes.
By far the most popular message of the day, and one that generated the biggest reaction from Fight Bladder Cancer’s awareness pillar, was prevalence; however, symptom awareness, alongside surveillance from the policy change pillar, were very much top of the agenda, too (2). Patient stories relating to symptoms were shared by the team and, based on his own personal experience and that of many others, Fight Bladder Cancer Patient Advocate Michael emphasised the importance of preserving lifetime surveillance within the pathway for all bladder cancer patients.
“Drawing from my own journey and the collective experiences of many, I stressed the crucial need to safeguard lifelong surveillance within the pathway of every bladder cancer patient.” – Michael, Fight Bladder Cancer Patient Advocate
The Westminster Awareness Event was evidently impactful, with outcomes such as the generation of far-reaching awareness being a testament to this. The dedicated team at Fight Bladder Cancer is focusing on a crucial goal: preserving hard-earned support and momentum garnered through collaborative efforts with Members of Parliament (MPs). Their determination lies in propelling key questions, carefully crafted from the invaluable insights provided by the Exemplar Report and policy priorities, to be promptly and effectively conveyed within the chambers of the UK parliament. By harnessing the power of advocacy and strategic engagement, Fight Bladder Cancer will impact policies that directly affect bladder cancer patients and their families.
“As Fight Bladder Cancer’s Policy and Communications Manager, I can assure you that our team remains steadfast in our dedication to upholding the support and momentum forged in collaboration with MPs. We are fully committed to advancing essential inquiries, derived directly from the Exemplar Report and our policy priorities, and ensuring their timely presentation in the UK parliament.” – Sana Gilfillan, Fight Bladder Cancer Policy and Communications Manager
Suggested parliamentary questions that may be taken forward:
- Bladder cancer is the fifth most common cancer, what is being done to reflect this?
- How are we going to raise awareness about bladder cancer symptoms, given that outcomes are so much worse for patients and cost to the NHS is so much greater, when bladder cancer is discovered late?