Campaign aimed at boosting the number of fully trained cancer nurses is being backed by a local MP

Justin Madders, MP for Ellesmere Port and Neston and Shadow Minister for Health and Social Care, was one of more than 200 Members of Parliament who came together to support a key event in the Macmillan Cancer Support calendar.

The charity used its well-loved World’s Biggest Coffee Morning reception in Parliament to launch Cancer Nursing on the Line. The report calls for a Cancer Nurse Fund to invest in training the next generation of cancer nurses whose numbers need to double by 2030 to ensure that people living with cancer get the support they need.

At the event in the Churchill Room in Parliament Mr Madders spoke with Macmillan professionals and learned more about the concerns of people living with cancer.

“It is clear that specialist cancer nurses do an invaluable job in supporting people through their illness: from diagnosis to treatment and beyond,” he said. “As the NHS recovers from the throes of the Covid-19 pandemic, we must build back stronger and better.

“A shortage of over 3,000 nurses in England is impacting how the NHS can care for cancer patients in Cheshire West and Chester and indeed across our nations. We must grow and back our specialist cancer nurse workforce in order to be set up for the future.”

Macmillan’s report highlights that the cancer nurse crisis has now left more than half a million people with cancer in the UK (21 per cent or 630,000) with a lack of support.

As many as 44 per cent of people who were diagnosed with cancer in the last two years experienced at least one potentially serious medical implication such as ending up in A&E, not knowing if they were talking their medication correctly and not being fully aware of potential side effects.

Pictured - Justin Madders, MP for Ellesmere Port and Neston and Shadow Minister for Health and Social Care.