Westminster briefing for Coventry University professor

A professor in children and family nursing at Coventry University was invited to the House of Commons to speak as part of a Teenage Cancer Trust briefing for the shadow secretary of state for health.

Professor Jane Coad, lead for Children and Families Research, and a team from the University’s Centre for Technology Enabled Health Research were invited to the parliamentary reception to brief the Rt Hon Andy Burnham on a pilot project which evaluated Teenage Cancer Trust nursing and support services in the north west of England.

Around 2,500 young people are diagnosed with cancer in the UK every year, but Teenage Cancer Trust is currently only able to reach half of them – in many cases young people may not even know that the charity’s services are available to them.

The pilot project evaluated by Professor Coad – which was conceived and led by Sam Smith, head of nursing (north) for Teenage Cancer Trust – supported two new clinical nurse specialists and youth support worker posts to deliver a new outreach service for teenagers and young adults with cancer.

The results of the two-year evaluation by Professor Coad and the university team showed that the nursing and support pilot enabled the charity’s specialist care to reach almost 100% of young people with cancer in the pilot area – a marked improvement over previous service delivery.

As a result, Teenage Cancer Trust will now begin rolling out the new approach across the whole of the UK, extending its work beyond its existing 28 specialist units to allow young people to receive care and support in their local hospitals.

Professor Coad’s work builds on an already successful relationship between Coventry University and Teenage Cancer Trust, which has recently seen the charity invest a proportion of funds raised by Stephen Sutton to create scholarships in his name. The scholarships will enable professionals who work with teenagers and young adults with cancer to undertake training on Coventry University's postgraduate certificate in Teenage and Young Adult Cancer Care.

Professor Coad said:

Improving and extending specialist care for teenagers and young people with cancer is clearly a priority for Teenage Cancer Trust, and we’re proud to be playing a part. 

To have the opportunity to brief the shadow health secretary on the work we’ve carried out in collaboration with Teenage Cancer Trust is incredibly significant, and will hopefully provide a boost to the fantastic services and support the charity provides to young people around the country on a daily basis.

For further press information please contact Mark Farnan, marketing and communications, Coventry University, on +44 (0)24 7765 8245 or email mark.farnan@coventry.ac.uk. 

For further press information on Teenage Cancer Trust please contact Sarah Henderson on 020 7612 0703 or email sarah.henderson@teenagecancertrust.org.