Debate in Westminster and a few Campaign Wins!!!!!
Where do I start with this update? Firstly, I need to thank everybody involved in the meetings and debate yesterday, namely my MP Andrew Western, his assistant Ben Hall, Preet Kaur Gill the Shadow Minister for Primary Care and Public Health (who graciously met with us before the debate and who had some fantastic ideas for improving access to dentists for cancer patients), Andrea Leadsom Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Public Health, Start for Life and Primary Care, for hearing the debate on behalf of the Government and to the four MPs who contributed to the discussion (giving some harrowing accounts of awful dental issues provided by their constituents).
There's so much to say but there have definitely been some wins. It's important to mention, and my MP, Andrew Western, eloquently stated during the debate that there were lots of issues to review but in a strict one-hour time slot, only generalities could be discussed. Therefore, Andrew requested a meeting to dig deeper into all aspects of the campaign. I am delighted to say that Andrea Leadsom kindly agreed to meet with us to discuss the points detailed below. She was incredibly open and understands the challenges and wants to find a solution so that's always a great starting point! She didn't have to agree to a meeting so I'm very grateful that we have this opportunity. For me this is a definite win. Getting our campaign and voice heard is the start to getting change.
As an aside, what I was very impressed with, is that all parties agreed this is not a political scoring campaign. This is something that needs to have a cross-party solution. It doesn't matter what's happened in the past, who has been in Government etc - what's important is what we do going forward.
If you would like to watch the debate, you can access it using this link https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/166c91d3-144f-4599-bff8-b1f34a2d9d8a and scrolling through to the time stamp of 16.54.54.
As you will know, if you've been following the campaign since the start, the end goal is free dental care for cancer patients BUT there are steps that are needed before that's possible. So, what are those steps and what was the win yesterday?
Step 1 - Informing Patients:
The first important step that the campaign highlighted is the need for cancer patients to be fully informed as to WHY achieving good dental health is essential BEFORE starting treatment. Also, it's critical that the patient needs to understand what he/she can do to prevent damage occurring that could potentially result in loss of teeth. This all sounds obvious BUT when you're first diagnosed with cancer, the last thing on your mind is your mouth/teeth. You simply want treatment to start so you can have a chance at living a long life and that's understandable. The issue is that we need to look longer term because if we suddenly have issues with our dental health, treatment can be halted and even refused until the dental work has been resolved. Although you may not think so, medical and dental issues are linked but unfortunately, at the moment, this is well understood by the general public (I certainly was unaware when I was diagnosed) and there's a gap in knowledge. If you don't know you need to get your dental health checked, you simply won't get it done!
Realistically, most cancer patients have more than 2 weeks (usually a lot more) until treatment starts. That gives us the perfect opportunity to visit a dentist and have any work done that's needed. However, this won't be on our radar unless we are told about the risks!
That's where the first point of the campaign comes in. EVERY SINGLE PATIENT must be told (at the point of diagnosis) that they MUST see a dentist. Prevention is better than cure. Now, who tells the patient is what needs to be determined - should it be your GP, the hospital where you are diagnosed, another health care provider - all of them? This needs to be resolved. Then, the information and how it's delivered needs to be thought through very clearly. Most newly diagnosed patients are not in the right head space to take on lots of new information, so the message needs to be delivered in a clear, concise manner. People take on information in different ways - some prefer to read a brochure, others prefer the spoken words so in order to help patients, how the communication is delivered, by whom and when, needs to be determined.
Our win yesterday was that Andrea Leadsom agreed that this was something that the Government agreed to action/legislate. This is a HUGE win! As I said above, prevention is better than cure.
Step 2 - Access to a Dentist:
So having all the information is only ever going to be useful IF a cancer patient is able to see a dentist! That's where step 2 comes in. It's clear that getting access to a dentist is incredibly difficult no matter where you live. There are some pockets of the country that are better than others, but for the most part, getting to see an NHS dentist is impossible.
The first part of this is that the patient needs to know where they can go in their area and who will prioritise cancer patients - it's no good just telling a patient they need to see a dentist but then leaving them to their own devices. As part of the communication process, it must be clear where they should go - whether that's a dentist attached to the hospital where the cancer treatment will take place or a local dental practice.
My next campaigning step is that it MUST be legislated that cancer patients are given priority access to an NHS dentist (or in the event there are no NHS practices in the area, a private practice who will see the patient but on an NHS cost basis). There must be a timeframe put on the emergency access and my suggestion is that it's between 7 and 14 days from the point of contact. Obviously, the sooner the better especially if dental work may be needed. This gives the patient a head-start to avoiding delays in treatment.
It should be legislated that even is the cancer patient is not already registered with a dentist, they will be given priority access and treatment by any dentist they contact. I do realise however, that to be fair to the dental community, there needs to be a sharing of this work so one dental practice isn't overwhelmed. Giving a quota of X number of appointments for this purpose should be shared by ALL dental practices in an area. That figure will need to be determined.
In addition, my understanding is that dentists do not keep records of treating cancer patients (unless it's oral cancer). I was horrified to learn this and that needs to be corrected To help with this aspect, a record of treating cancer patients (all types of cancer) needs to be recorded.
So, that's step 2 - being able to access an NHS dental appointment and treatment as a priority and within a target timeframe of contact.
Step 3 - Cost of Dental Treatment:
This of course is the big ticket item. It's not impossible to give free dental treatment to cancer patients (not just those on lower incomes because in all honesty, the cost of treatment hits patients irrespective of their income, which I don't believe is fully understood). I have several ideas how this can be achieved, and Andrea Leadsom has very kindly agreed to meet with my MP, Andrew Western and I to discuss this further. She has acknowledged that there IS a need and that changes are needed. The date of the meeting is to be agreed but hopefully won't be too far in the future.
This campaign was never going to get a yes/no answer in 5 minutes. I've always said it will be a marathon and not a sprint but I'm in it all the way and feel incredibly grateful for the support shown yesterday - not least by Andrew, Ben, Preet and my friend Nicki who literally kept me calm throughout the day!
As soon as a date for the meeting has been confirmed, I will of course update the campaign.