All Party Parliamentary Group for Radiotherapy (APPG-RT) held a very successful and engaging annual general meeting (AGM) chaired by Tim Farron MP on Wednesday 29th March 2023 in Westminster.
This saw the re-election of the party Chair Tim Farron MP and Vice Chairs Grahame Morris MP, Derek Smith MP, Baroness Goulding (peer), Lord Rennard (peer) and Henry Smith MP and welcomed new Vice Chairs Theresa Villiers MP, Greg Smith MP and Jeff Smith MP.
This short AGM was followed by a session discussing where we are now, 3 years after the beginning of the pandemic.
Three years of waiting – How the cancer backlog crisis is impacting on cancer services
The secretariat, Radiotherapy UK and the Catch up with Cancer campaign provided updates for the attendees on the latest cancer waiting time figures which showed nearly half of cancer patients are waiting over 62 days for their first treatment.
Parliamentarians heard from leading clinicians and Radiotherapy UK how the cancer backlog is impacting services across the country and how modest investment in radiotherapy technology, equipment and workforce can help improve cancer survival.
The meeting saw some really positive engagement from those who attended in wanting to further understand the issues being faced along with some helpful suggestions to action moving forward to ensure cancer and radiotherapy is firmly on the government’s agenda.
