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The Brain Tumour Charity at the Labour Party 2018 annual conference

Kielan Arblaster, our Policy & Public Affairs Assistant, reports from the conference

Kielan Arblaster, our Policy & Public Affairs Assistant, reports from the conference

Yesterday the Policy team held their data campaign at the first day of the Labour Party 2018 annual conference.

Engaging with Members of Parliament, Members of European Parliament, Labour councillors, Lords, people who are personally affected and interested passers-by, we highlighted the strikingly high costs of data and the need to receive it free in order to populate BRIAN (Brain tumour Information & Analysis Network) and improve patient care.

We spoke to Chris Elmore MP, who vowed to improve brain tumour patient experience after being inspired by a young constituent who sadly lost his life to the disease.

We also spoke with Shadow Secretaries of State, Emily Thornberry MP (pictured) and Andrew Gwynne MP, on how they could help unlock the power of patient data.

At a fringe event, the Policy team heard from Jon Ashworth MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, about his desire to reduce health inequalities.

Using their investigative nous, conference goers deciphered a brain tumour brief to try and unlock the safe of ‘patient data’.

Kevin Brennan, MP for Cardiff West, flew through the brief and smashed the challenge in just 12 seconds.

Looking ahead to the next two days, the team will be engaging with more MPs and conference members by highlighting the importance of data sharing by Public Health England and NHS Digital so that we can all see the experience and care of patients improve across the country and ultimately find a cure.