Living with and beyond cancer
Treatment and Care
Cancer doesn’t end when treatment does. More people than ever are living with and beyond cancer, and we’re committed to helping every individual lead a healthy, fulfilling life after diagnosis.
Our work focuses on improving quality of life, supporting recovery, and addressing the long-term effects of cancer and its treatment. Through personalised care, holistic needs assessments, and tailored support plans, we aim to empower people to take an active role in their health and wellbeing.
We’re developing resources for physical activity, mental health, work and cancer, and late effects of treatment—because living well means more than surviving.
By working with patients, carers, healthcare professionals, and community partners, we strive to create consistent, compassionate care across the North East and North Cumbria.
Our work programme includes:
- Improving and developing new pathways that support the mental wellbeing of cancer patients at ‘place’.
- Supporting pilot cancer prehabilitation (prehab) services, developing resources and upskilling staff, with a view of making these services sustainable and available to all cancer patients.
- Increasing the uptake and quality of personalised care interventions including Holistic Needs Assessments (HNA), Personalised Care and Support Plans (PCSPs), End of Treatment Summaries (EoTS), and Cancer Care Reviews in primary care.
- Developing community based models and educational resources that improve access and availability to health and wellbeing information and support, with a focus on sleep and the menopause.
- Supporting the rollout of the personalised stratified follow up (PSFU).
Health & Wellbeing Project
Our Health & Wellbeing project, in collaboration with Macmillan, aims to reduce the variation of information and support available to cancer patients in the region and make it more accessible and available to those affected by cancer. It focused on aligning Macmillan & Cancer Information Centres (MCICs) with their wider communities, engaging with Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprise (VCSE), and addressing the health and wellbeing needs of patients and carers affected by cancer.
The project provided valuable insights into the current infrastructure for cancer support services in North East and North Cumbria (NENC) including the importance of MCICs as valuable resources. The final project report concluded with proposals for the next phase of the project, focusing on practical support for MCICs in working with their local communities.
Building learning to date, the next phase up to March 2026 has focused on health inequalities experienced by those affected by cancer and how information and support can be improved to address some of these challenges. This includes digital access to information and support, working collaboratively with VCSE partners and increasing patient and carer engagement. Further updates and information will be shared as the project progresses.
