Patient and Public Group

The Cancer Alliance’s patient and public representatives work with colleagues to make improvements, develop new ideas and ensure the patient voice is at the heart of everything we do.

Humber and North Yorkshire Cancer Alliance is actively recruiting people with lived experience of cancer to join its expanding Patient and Public Representative Group. Lived experience could mean either as a patient or the carer of someone with a cancer diagnosis.

As a Patient or Public Representative, you will have the opportunity to use your experience of cancer to help improve cancer services across Humber and North Yorkshire.
Find out: 

  • What the role is 
  • How you can get involved 
  • If you are eligible 
  • How to join the team 

What is the role?

As a Patient or Public Representative for the Cancer Alliance, your main role is to use your knowledge and experience to give feedback on and advise about the impact on patients of work developed and undertaken by the Cancer Alliance.

You will be in a unique position, able to get involved in a variety of opportunities across the Cancer Alliance, ensuring the patient and carer perspective is considered throughout all programmes of work. 

By acting as a critical friend, you can challenge the Cancer Alliance in an appropriate manner, remaining respectful and open to a wide range of opinions and thought processes.

How can I get involved?

  • You can join a project team for a specific workstream, using your experience of a particular element of the cancer pathway
  • Attend the bi-monthly Patient and Public Representative Group Meeting to feed into discussion topics with colleagues from the Cancer Alliance
  • Volunteer at community engagement events to speak directly with the public about cancer
  • Join a Cancer Alliance Programme Board, Steering Committee or Working Group to embed the patient voice across a certain programme or workstream
  • Participate in ad-hoc opportunities throughout the year. These may include completing a survey, giving feedback on materials or commenting on key documents and reports

Am I eligible?

To become a member of the Patient and Public Representative Group, you must:

  • Live within the Humber and North Yorkshire area – or have received treatment for cancer by a local NHS service
  • Have been diagnosed with or treated for cancer. This includes people receiving ongoing treatment, and can be a primary or secondary diagnosis of cancer

Or:

  • Have cared for or supported someone who has either received a cancer diagnosis, or been treated for cancer in Humber and North Yorkshire

How do I join the group?

To join the Cancer Alliance as a Patient or Public Representative:

  • Complete an expression of interest form, sharing your experience of cancer and why you want to get involved
  • After we receive your expression of interest, we’ll be in touch to arrange an informal chat, where we can discuss the opportunity further
  • If you join the Patient and Public Representative Group, you’ll receive a couple of forms, plus policy information (such as how to claim expenses) and you’ll have the opportunity to ‘buddy’ up with a current representative

To find out more about the ways you can be involved in shaping cancer services across our region, take a look at the recruitment pack.