The Greater Nottingham Cancer Forum is a voluntary group made up of people whose lives have been touched by cancer and whose mission is to improve cancer services from a patient/carer perspective. We are self-governing and give up our time free of charge working in collaboration with the Cancer Centre at the City Hospital
We are all people who ourselves have been affected by cancer either as patients or carers or as health professionals working in the field and were set up to promote user and carer involvement in the development and planning of cancer services as outlined in the current Cancer National Policy.
Membership
The forum represents a wide range of people and experiences and aims to improve cancer services for everyone across Nottingham's diverse communities. The forum meets for a couple of hours each month. All out of pocket expenses are paid and free training is available to new members.
The Forum is patient/ carer led and according to its constitution, the Chair and Vice-Chair are elected from its patient/carer members.
If you can spare the time and would like to join the forum, then please contact us using the links in the menu on the left.
Reshaping Services
Our purpose is to reshape cancer services locally based on the needs and aspirations of patients and their carers. We aim to do this by providing members of the public with an opportunity to share their views with the forum in a confidential and non-judgmental safe environment.
We have already been successful in establishing effective working links with service providers (mostly cancer teams within the Nottingham University Hospitals) and with cancer patients/carers, largely through the various Cancer Self-Help Groups. Through this we have identified a number of areas where the service can be improved and many of these improvements have already been implemented.
Reaching Others
One of the ways we hope to achieve this is by reaching out to cancer self help groups, attending their meetings and listening to their views and experiences. We are trying to make contact with hard-to-reach groups such as black and ethnic communities and also people in a secure environment (eg prisoners) to hear about any special requirements they may have. In addition to this we are involved with carrying out surveys in clinics and cancer wards to identify areas of good practice as well as identifying areas where improvements can be made. We can then provide feedback to key service providers
Maggie Centre
We are currently also involved in discussions over the provision of a Maggie Centre in Nottingham. This is an exciting development, which will provide Nottingham with a very special facility to support people whose lives are affected by cancer. You can learn more at their wesbite.
Join the Forum
We are actively seeking new ways to recruit and retain patient/carer members of the forum and to find new ways to find out where best practice exists and can be shared as well as where improvements need to be made. We are constantly trying to improve our effectiveness in understanding the needs and problems of service users by listening better and 'hearing' about their experiences.
Reaching Out
We are constantly looking for ways to reach out to cancer patients and their carers through attending events and meeting with self help and other groups. In previous years we have held open days in conjunction with Maggie's Care Centres. We have received support from Radio Nottingham and the Nottingham Evening Post in publicising the event as well as distributing leaflets and fliers in doctor's surgeries, hospital clinics and elsewhere in the community.
What People Say
One patient who had never previously joined a support group said: "Until I attended the GNCF Open Day I thought I was the only person with this particular form of cancer. It was very reassuring to meet with other patients who had similar problems and had undergone similar treatments."
This patient has since become a regular member of the support group and continues to benefit from their support. This was typical of the response of many of the people, carers and patients who attended and they all found it a great source of encouragement and comfort to be able to talk to people who had already gone through or were still going through what they were experiencing.
Forum Members
Many of our members have a story to tell. Look at the BBC website to learn more about one of our former members
