Policy and influence
As a voice for people affected by lymphoma, our role is to highlight the issues they face in order to influence the policies and decisions that affect them.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been vital that we put forward the issues that impact on people affected by lymphoma and we have worked in partnership with others to do so.
Cancer diagnosis, treatment and care
Our work to influence the decisions that impact on people affected by lymphoma feeds into our wider goal of ensuring that they can access the treatment and care that they need.
July 2023
- As part of the Blood Cancer Alliance, we called for 5 key commitments for blood cancer patients for the government to consider, in response to their call for evidence for the Major Conditions Strategy.
June 2023
- We are supporting the National Cancer Audit Collaborating Centre's new audit for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, which will help identify where there is variation in cancer services across the country, with the aim of reducing inequalities.
April 2023
- In April we came together with other charities to launch Teenage and Young Adult Cancer Awareness Month. We shared young people’s experiences of cancer, raising awareness of the unique needs of this age group and highlighting where change is needed.
March 2023
- On 22 March we delivered the One Cancer Voice petition to Number 10, alongside other charities and MPs. The petition received a total of 76, 559 signatures, demonstrating the support from across the cancer community for the government to put the needs of people with cancer first.
February 2023
- We launched a petition with 60+ cancer charities to call for the government to commit to a longer term strategy for cancer, following the announcement that the 10 Year Cancer Plan had been replaced with an interim 5-year ‘Major Conditions Strategy.'
September 2022
- Along with 50 other cancer charities, as part of One Cancer Voice, we wrote a letter to the new Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to urge her for a publication date for an ambitious and funded 10 Year Cancer Plan, which will provide for those affected by lymphoma.
July 2022
- In a letter written as part of the One Cancer Voice group of charities, we urged the final two Conservative Leadership candidates to recommit to the publication of the 10 Year Cancer Plan, originally due to be published in July. In the letter, we ask them to commit to taking bold action to improve cancer survival and outcomes in this country.
June 2022
- In collaboration with the One Cancer Voice group of charities, we have written a letter to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to urge him to ensure the forthcoming 10-Year Cancer Plan meets the essential tests we set out in our consensus statement in March. The letter highlights how the plan must include robust, fully costed and funded plans to deliver on its ambitions, and set out how it will address shortages in workforce and equipment – which are key ways in which we can meet our shared ambition of world leading cancer outcomes in this country.
March 2022
- As part of One Cancer Voice, a collaboration with over 50 cancer charities, we published a consensus statement in response to the Government’s Call for Evidence to inform a new 10-year Cancer Plan. We have outlined the 10 tests we believe must be met if the new 10-year Cancer Plan is to be successful in delivering world leading and transformative change.
October/ November 2021
As part of One Cancer Voice, In collaboration with 50 other cancer charities, we wrote to the Government to ask that they take action at the next Comprehensive Spending Review and respond urgently to the challenges faced by cancer services. This was then followed up by a letter asking the Government for clarity that announcements made in the Spending Review will meet the needs of people affected by cancer and enable the Government to deliver on its commitments on cancer diagnosis, survival and care.
March 2021
- In a letter written as part of the One Cancer Voice group of charities, we urged Government in all four UK nations to drive efforts to plot a route out of the pandemic and towards world-leading cancer services.
November 2020
- As part of the Blood Cancer Alliance, we commissioned and launched new research to identify challenges in access to new drugs and treatments for people with blood cancer and to make recommendations for change.
June 2020
- Along with 24 other charities, we developed the One Cancer Voice 12-point plan for the restoration of cancer services impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The plan sets out the ways that the Government can, not only restore cancer services to their previous levels, but transform them to deliver significant improvements in survival rates and patient care.
November 2019
- In collaboration with the One Cancer Voice group of charities, we launched a manifesto for people living with cancer that called on the next Government to improve cancer prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care.
COVID-19
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been vital that we put forward the issues that impact on people affected by lymphoma to the policymakers who can address them.
May 2023
- We submitted a statement to the National Institute for Healthcare and Excellence (NICE) to inform their COVID-19 surveillance rapid process consultation, to ensure access to COVID-19 medicines is prioritised.
March 2023
- We published a blog updating on changes to COVID-19 guidance and speaking to experts on what it means for people at higher risk.
October 2022
- We submitted evidence to the National Institute for Healthcare and Excellence (NICE) to advocate for use of Evusheld, the pre-exposure prophylaxis treatment for COVID-19, by the NHS.
September 2022
- Along with 5 other blood cancer charities, we submitted evidence to the National Institute for Healthcare and Excellence (NICE) to campaign for access to COVID-19 treatments.
March 2022
- As part of the Blood Cancer Alliance, we wrote to the Government to express our concerns about the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions across the United Kingdom. The statement advocated for a comprehensive strategy specifically for immunocompromised groups, including people with lymphoma and all blood cancers.
February 2022
- As part of the International COVID-19 Blood Cancer Coalition (ICBCC) we endorsed a Joint Patient Impact Statement which can be used when advocating for the provision of anti-COVID-19 treatment and care for immunocompromised (IC) blood cancer patients.
October 2021
- In a letter addressed to the Health Secretary alongside the charity Antony Nolan, we asked for the appointment of a government lead for immunocompromised people to represent the needs of those for whom the COVID-19 pandemic continues to be a very real threat.
- We also wrote to the Health Secretary as part of the Blood Cancer Alliance to express our ongoing concerns about the impact of COVID-19 on blood cancer patients, and to call on the Government to commit more rigorous measures to protect vulnerable patients while infection rates were continuing to rise.
July 2021
- In two letters addressed to the Prime Minister, we expressed our concern about the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions in England on Monday 19 July 2021, and what this would mean for people considered clinically extremely vulnerable to COVID-19. Our letter as part of the Blood Cancer Alliance highlighted how a large number of the UK’s blood cancer community, including people affected by lymphoma, continued to be clinically extremely vulnerable to COVID-19 and urged the Prime Minister to take specific action. We were also one of 56 charities who signed a letter organised by the charity National Voices asking the Prime Minister to reconsider the lifting of COVID-19 measures in England.
- In addition, we joined an open letter as part of the One Cancer Voice group of charities appealing to the public to be mindful of the impact of ‘freedom day’ on people affected by cancer, and the steps they can take to protect those who are still clinically extremely vulnerable to COVID-19
November 2020
- As part of the Blood Cancer Alliance, we wrote to the Government to express our concern about the shielding guidance that was issued to clinical extremely vulnerable patients during the second wave of COVID-19.
- We were also one of 50 charities to write to the Prime Minister and the First Ministers of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, asking them to give the NHS what it needs to protect cancer care services, minimise the impact of COVID-19 and uphold their ambitions to improve cancer survival.
Health inequalities
Our goal is to support anyone affected by lymphoma. To do so, it is important for us to understand the impact of health inequalities on people affected by the condition, and understand the barriers that may be preventing people from seeking further support, in order to improve health outcomes for all individuals, communities and groups affected by lymphoma.
November 2022
- Our CEO chaired the Blood Cancer Alliance (BCA) roundtable looking at unmet health and care needs among patients from ethnic minority backgrounds. The roundtable explored the findings of the research commissioned by the BCA, as well as having guest speakers to share their experiences.
November 2021
As part of our work with the Blood Cancer Alliance, we supported the Forgotten fifth campaign which called for people affected by blood cancer to be treated equally to those with the four most common cancers in NHS policy and decision making. It follows an evidence review conducted at the beginning of 2021 that explored the unmet needs of people with blood cancer across the UK.