National Cancer Survivorship Initiative Central Hall, Westminster Monday 21 September 2009 Work and Finance

National Cancer Survivorship Initiative Work and finance workstream NCSI conference, 21 September 2009 Barbara Wilson, Workstream Chair Duleep Allirajah, Workstream Support

Work and cancer: the scale of the problem The problem 90,000 working age people are diagnosed with cancer in the UK each year 774,000 people of working age in the UK have had a cancer diagnosis The solutions We have reviewed the evidence and identified the gaps We still do not know enough about the size and scale of the problem Macmillan will be commissioning a large scale population study on work and cancer in 2010

Information and advice about work The problem Less than 50% of patients are advised by cancer doctors about impact of treatment on their work Patients arent routinely offered information about returning to work by the NHS The solutions We are working with the Cancer Action Team to ensure that information prescriptions help people returning to work We will be developing and testing tools to aid more effective assessment and signposting from the point of diagnosis

Vocational rehabilitation The problem NHS rehabilitation services are focused on hospital discharge DWP services are focused on the long-term sick Many employees have no access to occupational health services The solutions We have developed a vocational rehabilitation model for cancer We plan to run vocational rehabilitation pilots in 2010 We have also commissioned a study to explore whether DWP programmes work for cancer patients

Vocational rehabilitation model NAVIGATION Case managed approach Rehabilitation/living well Self management Post-treatment Drop-in Signposting Face to face Focussed interaction Early information and support For employers, professionals and patient EMPLOYERS VALUES

Employer support is variable The problem Only 50% of patients are offered flexible working arrangements 80% of employers are unaware that cancer is covered by the DDA The solutions Macmillans Working Through Cancer pilot will be testing a toolkit for employers We will be developing a strategy to raise employer awareness of information and tools We are planning to commission a study to explore the specific challenges faced by small businesses

Financial hardship The problem 92% of people with cancer have suffered loss of income and/or higher costs Among under 55s, the average fall in income was 50% 77% of cancer patients receive no information about welfare benefits The solutions Ensure information prescriptions support people with financial needs Test tools to aid assessment of financial need and signposting to advice services Develop policy options in light of Macmillans study into the drivers of financial hardship

Questions From what you have heard today, what is most important initiative we are undertaking? What, if anything, has been left out? What will be the difficulties in implementation? How can we overcome these difficulties? What other points come out of this discussion?