Maintaining momentum: A busy week of campaigning activity and actions

This week has seen a flurry of activity in Policy and Campaigning as momentum continues in ensuring action is delivered to improve the lives of all those affected by brain tumours. This includes a question being asked to the Prime Minister, a question to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care in Scotland, meetings with MPs and a debate taking place on research and treatment of brain tumours.

Some of this activity is a result of our successful Write to MP action which community members have been engaging with. It’s resulted in over 94% of constituencies being reached so far. This is an incredible result and has led to over 120 MPs responding and for us to have directly met with 16 MPs with more meetings scheduled.

In this blog we provide more information on some of the activity that has taken place this week.

A question to the Prime Minister

On Wednesday, Matt Bishop MP shared the story of his constituent, Richard Wellington, in Parliament before asking the Prime Minister what the Labour governments plan is to improve diagnosis and treatment times for brain tumours.

The Prime Minister responded by sharing: “I send my best wishes and, I am sure, those of the House to Richard and to every family living with cancer for their courage and fortitude. I also pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Mitcham and Morden (Dame Siobhain McDonagh MP) for her work to raise awareness of the devastating impact of brain cancer.”

For us, it was a lovely moment and showed the impact of enabling community members to engage with their local MP. Richard used our Write to MP action to initially engage with Matt Bishop MP and to share his experience.

Following this, a call between Richard and Matt occurred to enable him to discuss actions. During the meeting, Matt promised to try and get a Prime Ministers Question to raise awareness of brain tumours, which was Richard’s key ambition. It was lovely to see that promise delivered on Wednesday and we thank Richard for bravely sharing his story.

A question to the Cabinet Secretary in Scotland

Wednesday also saw a question asked from Marie McNair MSP to the Cabinet Secretary for Health & Social Care, Neil Gray MSP on how the Scottish government is working to improve outcomes for people with brain tumours.

Responding, the Cabinet Secretary said, “through our 10-year cancer strategy and action plan, there is a key focus on improving outcomes for less survivable cancers, including brain tumours.”

The Cabinet Secretary added actions including websites highlighting possible symptoms of brain tumours and updates to clinical guidance including the Scottish referral guidelines for suspected cancer.

It’s positive to hear the Cabinet Secretary response and here at The Brain Tumour Charity, we were delighted to directly support the update to the Scottish referral guidance for suspected cancer. However, we know more must be done to achieve a faster, better diagnosis with over 70% of diagnoses of brain cancers taking place in an emergency setting in Scotland. Our Scottish Steering Committee is determined to change this.

Meeting with MPs

Debate on research and treatment of brain tumours

Thursday saw a debate on research and treatment of brain tumours. The debate was secured by Dame Siobhain McDonagh and Charlie Maynard MP. During the debate MPs shared their own personal stories about being affected by brain tumours, with others sharing stories about constituents they had engaged with who had been affected.

The debate highlighted several key areas of interest to the community with MPs consistently expressing the urgent need for systematic change to improve research funding into brain tumours and the delivery of new treatments.

John McDonnell MP noted that: “There is a desperate need to look at the mechanisms by which new drugs are brought forward and trialled and people can access those trials.”

Helen Morgan MP added: “For brain tumours, we would like to see an improvement in diagnosis, the care people receive and the range of treatment options available. Diagnosis targets need to reflect the fact that brain cancer does not occur in stages in the way that other cancers do—otherwise, we risk brain tumours falling through the cracks of NHS targets and objectives.”

Shadow Health Minister, Dr Luke Evans MP said: “I welcome the [Rare Cancer] Bill’s intention to encourage industry to concentrate more research on treatments for rare and less common cancers, including brain tumours, particularly through the review of the orphan drug regulations. However, it is vital that there is alignment with the national cancer plan, which is likely to set the direction of cancer policies for the next five to 10 years.”

Meanwhile, Phil Brickell MP stated:

“I echo calls by colleagues and The Brain Tumour Charity for a National Brain Tumour Strategy, and I urge the Minister to give that serious consideration. Such a strategy is vital given the current shortfalls in the research landscape that have held back progress to date.”

Phil Brickell MP

Following the contributions of MPs, the Minister for Health, Ashley Dalton MP shared information on the steps that the government has taken to improve research into brain tumours including the recent creation of a brain tumour consortium.

The Minister continued “In closing, for those affected by this devastating disease, every discovery, every treatment and every moment matters. We recognise that more needs to be done to stimulate high-quality, high-impact research into brain tumours. Through our targeted package of support, that is what we will do”

We thank all the MPs who contributed to the debate and for sharing all the personal stories of those affected by this devastating disease which hasn’t seen enough progress for far too long. It’s encouraging to hear the government share they understand the strength of feeling that exists. And here at The Brain Tumour Charity we’ll continue to work with the government to ensure the necessary changes required to improve the lives of all those affected by brain tumours occurs.