New cancer medicines: Joint working between the NHS and the pharmaceutical industry

Communication with patients

Rachel Chapman (Director of Public Engagement and Communications, NHS North of Tyne) reminded delegates about the importance of choosing the right communication channel when announcing important decisions to the general public; engaging with the local media is crucial. She stressed that any decision that is made on a cancer medicine by groups such as NECDAG needs to be communicated to the public as if talking not to the general public, but to a person with cancer and their family.

Ms Chapman highlighted the power of the local press, going through some of the negative publicity that decisions not to fund cancer medicines have had and highlighting both the national and the local impact. She talked through a campaign that the Communications Team in the northeast has been running to counteract negative publicity.

The team engages with the local media, talks directly to the editors of newspapers, issues press statements and is generally proactive in keeping the local media informed about decisions and why they have been made. She noted that this action has had a positive impact on how access to cancer medicines is perceived in the area. Ms Chapman also talked about the importance of maximising any good news about access to cancer medicines.

By building these links with the media, she said she felt her team has facilitated less sensational and more honest reporting of decisions surrounding access to cancer medicines.

Page 9 of 14

Previous Page Next Page

---