Publish date: 3 February 2026
Hello. I'm Dr Eilidh Gunson.
I'm the Primary Care Cancer and Palliative Care Improvement Lead for Pennine GP Alliance.
Edith, Eileen, Elspeth, Hayley and (I’ve saved the best till last) Elijah are just some of the names I’ve been called throughout my life. When I say, “It’s ‘Ayley’ – like ‘Hayley’ but without the H”, some still call me ‘Hayley’, some ignore the explanation and just guess and others even question whether I’ve got the pronunciation right! When someone takes the time to ask, to listen and to make the effort to say my name correctly, it means the world. And when they learn how to spell it, I get a real sense of value – a sense that they genuinely care.
It's more than a name: it’s part of my identity; it is the name my parents chose for me; it’s what I want to be called.
What has this got to do with being a Cancer and Palliative Care Improvement Lead for Pennine GP Alliance? What has it got to do with World Cancer Day?
It reminds us that the person matters - their identity, experience and choices matter. Listening to their story, hearing their concerns and responding to them as an individual is important. Taking the time to understand their holistic needs shows that we care and helps to build trusting relationships. For people with cancer, who may already feel frightened and vulnerable, personalised care is a vital aspect of their management and often has a positive impact on their cancer experience.
This is a long-winded way of saying how privileged I am to be in a role which draws different services together to focus on patient-centred care - and which offers support to practices and staff as they look for ways of improving patients’ cancer and screening experiences. My role is based within primary care, but I link up with secondary/specialist care, community and voluntary partners, people with lived experiences, and wider networks to “join up” the individual’s journey and focus on a compassionate, patient-centred approach.
Some of my work is very much at a service level, working with local partners and national programmes to support and improve cancer awareness and pathways – while other aspects involve engaging with patients and staff to hear their individual stories, improve cancer awareness and listen to their ideas and initiatives. Whatever angle my role takes at a particular time, I am always careful to promote a culture of personalised care and reasonable adjustments and ensure that patient experience is considered and prioritised.
I love the variety of my role – strategic planning one day and discussing bits, boobs and poo at local supermarkets another (this is a shameless plug for one of our co-produced videos - "Bits Boobs and Poo" - SMI and Cancer Screening – where a lovely group of people with lived experience of serious mental illness talk about the importance of screening and self-checking)! I am proud of the progress we have made including:
- Connecting Roles events which bring partners together to network and share ideas, and which develop a culture of co-working and collaboration.
- Developing a cancer care review toolkit which empowers our personalised care teams to deliver holistic, patient-centred assessments and care.
- Working with partners, particularly Calderdale Cancer Aware, in producing and delivering cancer awareness sessions which are relevant to individual people and communities.
- Co-produced videos, involving members of the public and those with lived experience, to demonstrate poo testing (FIT) and promote screening.
- Sharing resources and developing networks locally and further afield.
I have the honour of working with wonderfully creative and innovative colleagues in healthcare, community and voluntary settings and see tireless efforts to support all members of our community and reduce inequalities. My role is just a small cog in the collaborative wheel and I feel very proud to play even a small part in a shifting culture towards better cancer awareness and provision.
Above all, my over-arching ambition is that we continue to work together to assess needs of our local population, to encourage an individualised and compassionate approach to patient care, and to adapt and develop accessible services which improve the cancer health of our communities. Through a personalised approach – getting to know people, hearing their concerns, honouring their preferences and tailoring our response – we show we care; all of which promotes engagement, aids compliance, and helps improve outcomes and experience.
My role started out as an 18-month project funded by West Yorkshire and Harrogate Cancer Alliance – to influence improvements in screening and cancer awareness, to develop robust processes for supporting those living with and beyond cancer, and to leave a legacy of collaborative working and joined up care. As it turns out, the legacy will be ongoing, not just in terms of the work completed, but in the continuation of the role itself. In response to the achievements we’ve seen and the work still to do, Pennine GP Alliance has made the role permanent and has firmly embedded cancer and palliative care in its work within Primary Care in Calderdale. I will continue to keep patients and people at the heart of this work and look forward to ongoing engagement with the community, colleagues and partners to optimise cancer care.
Take care and thanks for reading,
Eilidh (like ‘Hayley’ but without the ‘H’!)
Click here to learn more bout Pennine GP Alliance
