Your voice matters. Here at Somerset, Wiltshire, Avon and Gloucestershire (SWAG) Cancer Alliance, we are committed to ensuring that the voices of people affected by cancer are at the heart of service improvements.
Patients, carers and members of the public have invaluable knowledge and experience that can help shape and improve local cancer services.
We have a number of ways that you can get involved; whether you are a cancer patient, carer or someone with an interest in tackling health inequalities.
Share or take part in our Healthwatch Survey
We have partnered with Healthwatch to uncover inequalities and barriers people face to accessing cancer care, to help us better understand how our services can be improved.
The survey is open to anyone who has experience with cancer services, and we are particularly looking to hear from those who may face additional barriers, such as people with disabilities, refugees, people living in deprived or rural areas, travellers, LGBTQ+ communities, etc. We want to hear what challenges or barriers are faced when it comes to accessing cancer services, whether screening, diagnosis or treatment.
Find out more and take the survey here.
Become a member of our Patient and Public Voice (PPV) Forum
Are you passionate about improving cancer care? Our Patient and Public Voice (PPV) partners use their lived experience to shape services across the SWAG Cancer Alliance. Whether you're a patient, carer, or family member, your voice can help drive meaningful change. We’re especially keen to hear from people in under-represented communities to ensure our work reflects the diverse needs of those we serve.
National Cancer Patient Experience Survey (NCPES)
The National Cancer Patient Experience Survey, runby Picker on behalf of NHS England, aims to understand the experiences of cancer care across England. Your views will help us here at SWAG improve the quality of our local services by understanding what matters most to you.
Capturing the patient voice: Feedback from patients help us shaper our services to better meet your needs and preferences.
Monitoring progress: Our results can be assessed against local, regional and national priorities and we can see where we have improved on, and where we need to focus more attention.
Improving the quality of care: We use the results to make improvements based on what really matters to you.
The survey runs each year, and is usually open from April to June. You can find out more on the NCPES here.
Clinical Advisory Groups
Our Clinical Advisory Group (CAG) meetings bring together over 1,200 multi-disciplinary team members from various cancer sites across SWAG, including members of the alliance, Cancer Managers, Lead Cancer Nurses, the Research Delivery Network, the Genomic Medicine Service Alliance, and patient representatives.
All CAGs routinely share updates on MDT services, clinical guidelines, coordination of patient care pathways, optimising patient experience, provision of personalised care and support, review of quality indicators, audits and data collection, network collaboration and research, and implementing service developments.
If you are a healthcare professional, charity, or patient and would like to know more about our CAGs or how to get involved, please contact Clinical Advisory Group Manager Helen Dunderdale at helen.dunderdale@uhbristol.nhs.uk.
Contact Us
If you'd like to know more about opportunities to get involved with us here at SWAG Cancer Alliance, please do get in touch via swagca@nbt.nhs.uk.
