Patients to advise cancer charity

Tuesday 23rd August 2011

Cancer patients and health professionals are set to give a leading Yorkshire charity advice on how best to spend its money.

is looking for people affected by the disease or doctors working with patients to be part of a new advisory group.

The Stakeholder Involvement Group will give advice to the Harrogate-based charity's trustees and managers over its decision making processes, including those surrounding finance.

The research charity, which spends £6 million annually on diagnosis and treatment of cancer across Yorkshire, hopes the changes will boost its funding work and benefit patients across the region.

Trustee John Abram said: "Yorkshire Cancer Research already has an exhaustive scientific evaluation process carried out by its Scientific Advisory Committee, an eminent panel of research scientists from across the UK.

The creation of the new Stakeholder Involvement Group, which will include lay members and clinicians, will not alter the way that panel operates and we will, as in the past, only fund research that is deemed to be of the highest calibre.

"But the new advisory group will bring an extra dimension to the decision-making process, in line with the charity's strategy to focus even more strongly on spending our money on projects that are closely aligned to patient benefits and with an emphasis on people living in Yorkshire."

The group will include eight members who must understand the basics behind the science of cancer research, the charity said. Members will include lay people who have had direct contact with cancer during the last five years, either as a patient or close friend or relative of a patient, and medical professionals that are involved with the diagnosis, treatment, care or support of people with cancer.

Anyone interested in joining the Stakeholder Involvement Group should contact Mr Williams on 01423 501269 or by emailing hq@ycr.org.uk for more information and an application form. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to a selection meeting before the final members are chosen.

Yorkshire Cancer Research is the UK's largest regional medical research charity funding around 200 scientists and clinicians in treating the disease. For more information on Yorkshire Cancer Research visit http://www.yorkshirecancerresearch.org.uk.

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