A Macmillan team including GPs and nurses have been shortlisted for a prestigious award for their work to help people with cancer in Wales.
The Macmillan Primary Care Cancer Framework team, which works across Wales to improve cancer care in GP surgeries, has been shortlisted in the General Practice Awards.
The team, made up of programme staff, GPs and nurses, has been shortlisted in the Clinical Improvement Award: Public Health and Prevention.
Since being funded by Macmillan Cancer Support five years ago, the team has improved care for people living with cancer by working with and training GP practice staff across Wales and creating tools to support them.
The team was involved in creating rapid diagnostics clinics, which speed up diagnosis of cancer and other conditions, as well as rolling out cancer care reviews and end of treatment summaries to give tailored support to people with cancer.
They also developed a toolkit to support practice staff to learn more about cancer, end of life care and how to give co-ordinated support to their patients with cancer.
More than a quarter of Welsh GP practices (27%) have signed up to do the toolkit.
The awards seek to recognise an individual or team who have demonstrated excellence when working to improve healthcare in their local area.
The judges consider projects and strategies that have been implemented to improve long-term patient care.
Macmillan GP Dr Elise Lang said: “We are thrilled to be among the finalists in the General Practice Awards as there were strong applications in our category ‘Clinical Improvement Award: Public Health and Prevention’.
“The Macmillan Primary Care Cancer Framework was funded for five years by Macmillan until the end of December 2020, but none of us foresaw what a year 2020 would be.
“There has been no celebratory event recognising the dedication of the team (GPs, nurses, administrative support and programme lead) due to Covid19 and the team has had to work in new ways this year.
“We have been adapting to new projects in order to support our health boards through Covid19.
“It has been tough for all but the adaptability, teamwork and trust between the frameworks members have made us stronger and we are delighted that there has been funding provided by Wales cancer network to support our work beyond 2020.
“Congratulations to whoever wins in the finals, we are very proud of the work we have done and to continue to implement change for cancer patients in Wales.”
Richard Pugh, Head of Partnerships for Macmillan Cancer Support in Wales, said: “We are so proud to hear the Macmillan Primary Care Cancer Framework team has been shortlisted in a category in the General Practice Awards.
“For five years, the team has worked tirelessly across Wales to improve the care people with cancer get in doctor’s surgeries here through training, clinical leadership and practical tools.”
The awards received a record number of entries from across the UK and winners will be announced at the start of the new year.
