Sometimes patients are just numbers, and they've got to come first. They need a voice.
In conversation
Professor Pat Price joined St George’s House last week for a fascinating, wide-ranging conversation about health, the King’s Fund, focusing on patients, planning a good death and the need for accountability in the UK’s health services.
Prof Price said: “Without accountability, I don’t know how we move forward. We’ve been running #CatchUpWithCancer for three years and everybody says ‘yes, we should do this’ but nobody seems to know what lever to pull to make it happen. Who’s in charge?”
Professor Pat Price
Leading on from the 2023 St George’s House Annual Lecture, given by Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, Chair of Cancer Research UK, the latest In Conversation features renowned Oncologist Professor Pat Price.
Following training in general medicine in Cambridge and in oncology at the Royal Marsden Hospital, Professor Price undertook her research degree at the Institute of Cancer Research and was awarded the Cambridge University medal for best laboratory-based MD in 1991.
In 2000, Professor Price established the first Ralston Paterson Chair in Radiation Oncology at the Christie Hospital and set up the new Wolfson Molecular Imaging Centre at the University of Manchester.
She has been working to redefine cancer treatment for 34 years and is now involved with Imperial College in a large-scale international research programme to develop new quantitative in vivo imaging technology, and a unique investigation aimed at developing laser-based productions of high energy ions for new therapy in cancer. She has an international reputation in the molecular imaging of tumour biology and is currently a director of a molecular imaging advisory company.
Healthcare is Pat’s priority and that shows in every aspect of her life. She has run the last seven London Marathons, regularly leading a team “Running for Radiotherapy” to raise awareness for cancer treatment and radiotherapy. The current #Miles4Radiotherapy team hopes to lead 1000 front line staff around the country, clocking up miles and raising money to ensure all cancer patients in the UK get access to the best radiotherapy where they live.
