Non surgical oncology – or NSO for short - is the name given to services that provide treatment and care for cancer patients without surgery – mainly chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
NSO services in our region are organised in a unique way that was agreed more than 20 years ago. The Cancer Alliance has been asked by West Yorkshire Association of Acute Trusts to review the way in which non surgical oncology services are delivered across West Yorkshire and Harrogate, with recommendations for improvement.
In developing proposals for more robust services for the future, delivering as much cancer care as possible closer to home, we have spoken to people affected by cancer (patients and carers) and people with an interest in cancer (staff) about what is important to them.
They helped us to develop some fundamental principles and we have worked alongside them to develop plans for the future.
It is important that everyone in West Yorkshire and Harrogate was provided with the opportunity to give their views on how those proposals might be improved and to ask questions about what matters to them. In total, we have spoken with over 1300 people in more than 20 towns and cities across West Yorkshire and Harrogate. This engagement has shown that the changes proposed have significant public support.
This page is where you can find out how we worked with the public on this review and also get involved and help us to improve our plans for NSO services, based on what matters to you.
What were these sessions about?
Healthwatch Wakefield were asked to facilitate a series of sessions in local communities so that people can come along to learn more about the proposals for non surgical cancer care across West Yorkshire and Harrogate; give their views on how those proposals might be improved and ask questions about what matters to them.
Engagement sessions were from July 2023 to September 2023 in Wakefield, Bradford, Birstall, Harrogate, Brighouse, Leeds and Skipton. Two online sessions, via Zoom, were also held in August 2023.
We heard views from a diverse range of individuals on what was important to them and how we could improve the plan.
Feedback was positive in support of the proposals, with transport emerging as a key theme for consideration. We shared this feedback with hospitals and agreed changes designed to increase the range of services available closer to patients' homes and to reduce the average number of times that patients are required to attend a hospital.
Although we heard what was important from many places in the area we wanted to be confident that we had heard from all communities across West Yorkshire and Harrogate. From November 2023 to March 2024 we held additional engagement sessions with voluntary sector groups who work with people at higher risks of health inequality or those who might have been underrepresented at earlier events. Nine additional face to face events and an online engagement were held. Views were again supportive but with some people telling us about difficulties they might experience in accessing services.
A final phase of public engagement events will be undertaken in Summer 2024 with voluntary and community groups. These will test that the changes that we have proposed as a result of earlier engagement feedback are supported by the public.
To further increase the engagement we worked with a market research company to undertake street surveys in 18 towns and cities across the region. More than 1100 people took part and their responses showed that there is a high level of public support for the changes proposed.
