£35k for health support
A support service for people with cancer or a long-term health condition is set to benefit from almost £35,000 in funding, writes Jack Thomson, Local Democracy Reporter.
The initiative, used by more than 500 patients last year, connects individuals and their family or carers to key advice and assistance.
They are assigned a coordinator to discuss their needs and help them access tailored information, working together to develop a care plan which can cover things like ideas to manage emotional, physical or practical worries.
Councillors will be asked to allocate a further £34,500 to continue to provide“additional capacity”within the Improving the Cancer Journey and Long-term Conditions service until the end of December at Wednesday’s leadership board.
The programme involves partnership working between Renfrewshire Council, Macmillan Cancer Support and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and has now been delivered for more than three years.
A report to this week’s board said:“A core principle of the approach that is used by the service, is to work with each person in a holistic way following a cancer diagnosis, linking the person and their family/carers to advice and support.
“Macmillan have always been keen that the principles of the service be adopted to support as many people in Renfrewshire as possible, including those with long term conditions.
“As part of the social renewal programme, partners identified the requirement to target those experiencing health inequalities in Renfrewshire which may have been exacerbated by the pandemic.
“Funding of £38,000, was approved by leadership board to support the service to meet increased demand and activity during 2021, including supporting people with long term conditions.
“In 2022, over 500 people were supported by the service, and working with Advice Works, the service has helped people affected by cancer to access additional income of over £1.5million since its inception.
“It is recommended that further funding of £34,500 is allocated to continue to provide this additional capacity within the service to end December 2023.
“Macmillan have indicated that national funding may be available to support the continued delivery of the service post 2023, with positive recent discussions having been held in relation to this matter.”
For more information visit renfrewshire.gov.uk/ article/9847/ Support-with-cancer-and-longterm-health-conditions