Dr James F Harbertson elucidates the growing field of oenology and explains how collaboration with industry can help to highlight and solve the problems associated with the production of wine.
Male eating disorders overlooked says study
A UK study suggests that male eating disorders are being overlooked due to the perceptions about a “woman’s illness”.
Despite a quarter of anorexia and other eating disorder cases being male related, researchers have said that men are going un-diagnosed and under treated.
Reported in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), the study was conducted by researchers from the University of Oxford and University of Glasgow with 39 young people aged 16 to 25 including 10 men.
The researchers interviewed the young people about their experiences of diagnosis, treatment and support for eating disorders.
Dr Ulla Raisanen and Dr Kate Hun told the BBC News: “Our findings suggest that mean may experience particular problems in recognising that they have an eating disorder as a result of the continuing cultural construction of eating disorders as uniquely or predominately a female problem.”
They said that due to men themselves being unaware of the symptoms – despite not eating for days or obsessive calorie counting – eating disorders in young men were going under diagnosed and under treated.
One man said he thought eating disorders only affected “fragile teenage girls”, and another said he though eating disorders were “something girls got”, while one was told by his doctor to “man up”.
The researchers said that GPs and other professionals such as teachers have a key role in improving the outlook for mean with eating disorders by challenging misconceptions.
Mental health patients kept like prisoners, report states
A House of Lords committee has said vulnerable adults are being kept virtual prisoners in care homes.
The report by a select committee expressed concerns regarding the misuse of mental health laws and looked at how reforms passed in 2005 are working.
The report found that vulnerable adults are being failed by the 2005 Mental Capacity Act, and called for a new system to be drawn up from scratch.
The report was set up to examine how the act is working in practice and concluded that the legislation “is not working at all well”.
Lord Hardie said: “The evidence suggests that tens of thousands of people are being deprived of their liberty without the protection of the law, and without the protection that Parliament intended.
“Worse still, in some cases the safeguards are being wilfully used to oppress individuals and to force decisions upon them, regardless of what actions may be in their best interests.”
Lord Hardie said the act was seen as a “visionary piece of legislation”, when it was passed.
He called for a change in attitudes and practice across the health and social care sector and believes the 2005 act “is good and it needs to be implemented.”
The report concluded that the “only appropriate recommendation in the face of such criticism is to start again”.
Health Minister Norman Lamb agreed with the report and said it was “completely unacceptable to unlawfully deprive vulnerable people of their rights”.
“I am absolutely committed to making sure that the Mental Capacity Act is used properly to protect everyone receiving care and support”, he said.
Trustper A/S
‘THE NEW WORK METHOD’ Presents… CONCEPT FOR THE MARITIME INDUSTRY
This concept is ‘green’. Devised in a cost-efficient way to primarily preserve ballast tanks and void space using a 3-step work and progress procedure.
Becky Reid
Adjacent Digital Politics Ltd
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Becky Reid, Marketing manager, Fire Industry Association
Simone Lyle
Adjacent Local Government (February 2014)
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Simone Lyle – National Communications Officer – Homes and Communities Agency
Aiswariya Chidambaram
E-booklet (Uppsala Universitat – Understanding Brain Drug Delivery – 2014)
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Adjacent Local Government (February 2014)
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Greater awareness needed on domestic abuse
New guidance published by a health watchdog aims to help identify, prevent and reduce domestic violence and abuse.
The guidance by NICE outlines how health services, social care and the organisations should receive training in order to recognise signs of domestic abuse.
The health watchdog has said there needs to be a wider understanding in health and social care, as well as in society as a whole.
Each year at least 1.2 million women and 784,000 men experience domestic violence and abuse in England and Wales.
However, these figures are likely to underestimate the problem, because all types of domestic violence and abuse are under-reported in health and social research, to the police and other services.
Professor Mike Kelly, Director of the Centre for Public Health at NICE believes that domestic violence abuse is far more common than people think.
“Everyone in society needs to understand both the extension of the problem and the damage it causes”, Said Mike.
“It can affect anyone – particularly women and children, but also men, regardless of age, geographical location, income, and relationship type, family set-up or ethnic origin. It causes significant short and long term health problems, not only for the victim, but for those around them and can lead to criminal and civil sanctions.
“The new guidance recommends’ that health and social care professionals should received training so that they can recognise the signs of domestic violence and abuse, and ensure that those affected are aware of the help and support available to them.”
Han Pham
Adjacent Local Government (February 2014)
“Thank you very much for the invitation to contribute. The edition looks wonderful; what an inspiring collection of voices and ideas. I’m looking forward to working together again for the end of April edition on the followup to the Brixton project(s).”
Han Pham – Future Cities Experience Strategist – ICRI-Cities – Intel Labs Europe
AG 001 | February 2014
Welcome to Adjacent Local Government where we will be examining and highlighting a host of topics of concern to our varied readership. From sustainable cities and affordable homes, through to local government pensions, we hope to inspire and create debate.
The edition begins with a Foreword from the Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Hilary Benn MP. He discusses how communities can overcome social, economic and environmental changes in order to build a sustainable future. He suggests that we should learn from history about good leadership and confidence in order to gain enormous achievements, even when times are tough.
In our built environment section we have an excellent array of articles that delve into the topic of how we can achieve sustainability throughout our local communities. We start the section with a piece from European Commissioner for Regional Policy, Johannes Hahn, who gives an insight into what smart and sustainable growth means for Europe. Included also is a piece from Councillor John Gardner of Stevenage Borough Council, who gives a perspective on what is being achieved by a local planning authority.
Other topics that are given consideration within this February edition include; transparency within the NHS; reoffender management; apprenticeships; and, the digitalisation of public services.
In the next edition we intend to widen the scope of the publication to give a more cross-government balance. We look forward to this in May.
The digital transformation
Maia Beresford, Researcher at the New Local Government Network (NLGN) discusses the government’s ‘Digital Strategy’ and how local authorities should benefit.
In the UK 82% of adults are online. Today, the average household owns not just 1, but more than 3 types of internet enabled device, and 1 in 5 households own 6 or more. We buy our groceries and bank online, we use digital technology to share content and to work on the move.
In an attempt to harness the public’s appetite for convenient digital services, and reap the substantial cost benefits from doing so, over a year ago the government published their Digital Strategy. This committed them to a programme of ‘Digital by Default’ across public services.
Since then the Government Digital Service (GDS), a special unit sitting in the Cabinet Office, has been busy driving change across central government: transforming exemplar services such as electoral registration, consolidating government websites to a single streamlined GOV.UK site, and working on procurement and digital inclusion. But what has the GDS meant for local government?
The establishment of the GDS has certainly been influential in raising the profile of ‘digital by default’ in local government. ‘Channel shift’ from face-to-face to online contacts is on the agenda for most councils, and is understandably viewed as a way to save money and improve services. Many local government websites have been transformed so that online transactions are centre stage: whilst not yet the norm, ‘Pay it’ ‘Report it’ and ‘Apply for it’ buttons are now increasingly common on their websites.
The GDS has also been important in sharing good practice and setting standards across the public sector. Their principal aim is to drive change in central government, but they do have a remit to share learning and collaborate with local bodies to encourage digital development across wider public services. In conjunction with DCLG, the GDS has run ‘Really Useful Days’ where GDS staff share learning with their local government colleagues. They have also published useful web content standards 1 and digital inclusion checklists 2 that are being picked up by local government 3.
But perhaps the biggest benefit of the GDS is that it has been stimulating debate about digital leadership across local government. Unlike all other departments, DCLG has never published their own departmental digital strategy, and there is no single cohesive ‘engine room’ driving digital transformation across England’s councils. And in blog posts4 across the web, digital leaders are now looking enviously to the GDS and asking why not.
This is unsurprising since whilst change is happening, the scale of transformation necessary for councils can seem overwhelming. They are not just dealing with transactional services, web content and digital inclusion, but with issues surrounding investment in smart city infrastructure, ICT architecture, mobile working, and integrated and open data. And they are dealing with these issues in isolation and with limited individual budgets. Furthermore, as NLGN’s forthcoming research will show, they are facing stark challenges relating to local politics and risk appetite, and with deficiencies in leadership, strategy and in-house skills.
Networks such as Local Gov Digital, NESTA’s Code for Europe and DCLG’s Local Digital campaign are attempting to overcome some of these issues by sharing good practice, building and maintaining momentum, and growing skills in the sector. But these initiatives are piecemeal and insufficiently resourced.
Councils need buy-in from the top, a clear direction, more regional and sector-wide collaboration on contracting and skills development, and more support to leaders investing their time in digital development across the sector. NLGN’s upcoming report attempts to fill part of this gap by piecing together a roadmap for the sector. But councils and chief executives in particular have to step up to support their digital leaders and seize digital as an issue at the forefront of their agendas. Will your council be one to rise to the challenge?
NLGN’s ‘Shaping the Digital Agenda’ inquiry is supported by O2 and is culminating in a report that will be launched on 20th March.
1 https://www.gov.uk/design-principles/style-guide
2 https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2014/01/13/a-checklist-for-digital-inclusionif-we-do-these-things-were-doing-digital-inclusion/
3 http://sites.idea.gov.uk/localgovdigital/work-streams/content-designand-development/content-standards/
4 http://www.theguardian.com/local-governmentnetwork/2014/jan/25/local-government-digital-service-gds
Maia Beresford
Researcher
New Local Government Network (NLGN)
A portfolio for savings
A supporter of the Crown Commercial Service EPS framework.
GVA is one of the leading providers of estates professional services to Central Government and the wider Public Sector. The firm is also a strategic partner on the Crown Commercial Service framework RM928 through which it has been appointment on multiple direct awards on a national basis. We’re: Ranked No 1 (by • fees) by the Estate Gazette within our peer group in advising Central Government departments backed by the Government Transparency Agenda; and
• Ranked No 1 for favourability and repeat business by Public Sector respondents to the Sharps Brand Acritas Survey.
GVA has 12 UK offices providing multidisciplinary advice to the public and private sectors and our Client’s include DIO, MoJ, DCLG, DfE, HM Land Registry and HMRC as well as Birmingham and Manchester City Councils and multiple London Boroughs amongst others.
At GVA our dedicated teams exploit options to enable property to contribute to business strategy. Savings here can have a direct impact on the bottom line and opportunities include:
1. Lease restructuring
Certain properties will be considered core to the business, even in a downturn. An early renewal should generate a rent free or capital contribution. Maximising your Public Sector covenant that suits your operational needs can generate a positive result.
2. Break options
These can be a very cost effective way of reducing cash burn. However, plan early for them because many breaks have onerous conditions, and landlords might fight hard to frustrate you exercising your break options. A looming break option has a depressing effect on a landlord’s investment value. If the premises are core, consider ‘selling’ the break to the landlord for a rent free period or cash contribution.
3. Lease expiry
Exiting on lease expiries is an extremely cost effective way of reducing cash burn, but, again, plan well in advance in order to reduce the operational impact on your business. Dilapidation claims should be strongly challenged.
4. Surplus or underused assets
An accurate portfolio assessment will also allow you to properly assess the merits of potential deals on surplus space; be that assignment, subletting or surrender. Co-locating together can have a positive effect on the overall cost saving that can be achieved. MOTOs can help provide flexibility and certainty for all parties.
5. Assets sales
It’s important to have a realistic expectation of price, and knowing the local markets is essential. It’s also worth considering a revised planning zoning/consent to enhance value depending on how ‘time critical’ the generation of a capital receipt might be. Always consider the long term impact of such activity against the short term benefits of cash injection.
6. Property cost audit
Many organisations do not have a clear overview of their property costs because payments come from different budgets but the core areas are:
Rates
Challenging the current assessment with a view to securing a rate refund and reduced future payments needs to be considered for every property, including checking transition relief calculations and other relief. Many occupiers employ GVA rating surveyors to negotiate reduced assessments and this is a great way of generating cash quickly at no net cost.
Forensic Rates Audit
Reviewing historic information and payments in a forensic manner can often yield discrepancies that can be discussed. GVA has saved over £500m.
Service charges
Thoroughly questioning budgets and reconciliations provided by landlords frequently yields cash savings. That should include revisiting historic service charges to check for errors which may lead to cash reimbursement.
Energy/utility use audits
Are your buildings and services running as efficiently as they should and are you paying the lowest price? Thinking, acting and ‘going green’ can and will save you money and minimise the impact of pending and future energy related taxation/charging.
Portfolio analysis and data management
Tactical decisions need to be informed by quality data and sound analysis of the relevant benefits when site by site tactics are being considered. Comprehensive property data is unfortunately often lacking. This forms the springboard for analysing the portfolio to identify savings.
Cost-in-use analysis
A relative comparison of each of your facilities will quickly highlight those that are most expensive on a price per head, price per unit of production or any other business metric relevant to your organisation. This will demonstrate where the greatest savings can be achieved.
Space utilisation audit
How efficiently you use your space – or remodel the business through any restructuring – will be key to freeing up more space for your own use (or that of the wider public sector) or for disposal. By clearly understanding your internal key drivers will either reduce your occupational running costs of generate a capital receipt for potential re-investment.
On the Crown Commercial Services framework RM928, GVA acts across all mandatory and non mandatory services without the need to sub contract. We are therefore able to provide a holistic and comprehensive service to existing and new clients particularly where GPU interaction is needed to reduce costs and further rationalise an estate to deliver efficiency savings and/or capital receipts.
For more information on how GVA can assist, please contact Nicholas Freeston (Nicholas.freeston@gva.co.uk or on 0121 609 8867) or Adam Williams (Adam.williams@gva.co.uk or on 0121 609 8809) within their Government and Public Sector Services Team.
Nicholas Freeston
Director – Central Government and Public Sector
GVA
Tel: 08449 02 03 04
A reformed opinion
The Pensions Regulator gives thought on the pension reforms and how they will impact public services pension schemes.
The Pensions Regulator was given an expanded role in the Public Service Pensions Act 2013 in respect of the governance and administration of public service schemes.
From April 2015, the regulator will set standards of practice in this area for the Local Government, NHS, Teachers, Civil Service, Armed Forces, Police, Firefighters and Judicial pension schemes. Between them these schemes represent around 12 million members and more than 22,000 employers.
The Public Service Pensions Act 2013 followed a report by the Independent Public Service Pensions Commission in 2011, which made recommendations aimed at ensuring that public service pensions would be sustainable and affordable in the future, while also providing an adequate level of retirement income for members.
The reforms are intended to reduce and control scheme costs and each scheme is being redesigned with this aim. The 2013 Act provides for clearer governance with specifically defined roles, the provision of benefits information on a consistent basis, and administration practices that are broadly in line with those in the private sector.
Good governance and administration: consultation launched
The Pensions Regulator recently published for consultation a draft code of practice providing practical guidance to help public service pension schemes to meet the governance and administration requirements that are set out in legislation.
The size and number of memberships of many public service schemes mean they can face many challenges including maintaining high-quality data and records. Good governance and administration should improve the efficiency of public service schemes and will result in them being more cost-effective for employers, including the government departments which are responsible for the schemes.
The draft code sets out practical guidance, the underpinning legal requirements and standards of conduct and practice for scheme managers and pension boards in four core areas of scheme governance and administration.
‘Governing your scheme’ covers areas such as knowledge and understanding required of pension board members, conflicts of interest, and information that must be published about schemes. ‘Managing risks’ outlines the requirement for scheme managers to establish and operate adequate internal controls. ‘Administering your scheme’ covers scheme recordkeeping, maintaining contributions and information that must be provided to members, and ‘Resolving issues’ includes information on internal dispute resolution arrangements and whistle-blowing.
The regulator is also consulting on a draft regulatory strategy, which describes that it will educate and enable those involved in governing and running public service schemes to assist them in complying with the law and meeting the standards of practice outlined in the code. The draft strategy goes on to explain that, where necessary, the regulator will be able to take enforcement action to ensure the underlying legal requirements are adhered to.
To implement the strategy, the regulator will work to understand the risks across public service schemes, develop and communicate policies which set out good outcomes and what schemes should do, and determine how best it can use its regulatory tools to mitigate any risks.
Next steps
The schemes concerned are currently concentrating on the benefit redesign element of the reforms and the regulator is engaged with them on the administrative requirements and the new governance arrangements.
We will continue to engage with the schemes and other interested parties to understand them and their issues better, and as we near April 2015 we will be building our regulatory team. We plan to survey and report on the progress of public service schemes each year.
The consultation runs until 17 February and it is anticipated that the final code of practice will be laid before Parliament in the autumn of 2014.
The Pensions Regulator
Smart specialisation in the South West
Driving significant economic growth
Cities and the wider economies they influence are engines of growth critical to economic performance and national recovery in the current climate. The large conurbations naturally make the headlines as the ‘core’ cities receiving support towards economic development, but there are smaller cities which are comparatively and proportionately for their size, punching ‘well above their weight’ where people work, trade and innovate in exciting organisations directly driving significant economic growth.
They are true exponents of ‘smart specialisation’, one of the pillars of the European Commission’s ‘Europe 2020’ strategy to deliver smart and sustainable growth. Focussing on selected assets and their strengths which produce much more valuable results, they have avoided the temptation of trying to appease everyone by spreading their attention and investment thinly over disparate activities.
I will refer here to the Exeter economy but there are others. It is a city economy that understands its position and is working to use that knowledge to set out its future, building its strength sustainably in a national and international context. When Exeter prospers the wider region certainly benefits as the travel to work area is extensive and well served by road, rail and air infrastructure. Its job creation in recent years has been above the national average whilst other larger centres were experiencing marked reductions in the same period The approach and leadership provided by the mature partnership between the private and public sectors in the city has been about genuine collaboration, innovation, pursuing quality not mediocrity and supporting the city’s key assets. Most notable has been the growth and enhanced reputation of the University and the professional and business service sector, both critical to the diverse mix which puts the economy in a good position for the next set of developments.
The University is high in the world rankings and consistently in the top 10 of various national rankings in the UK. It is engaged in a £380 million investment programme in its buildings and facilities with a focus on excellence in world class standings.
Exeter has seen a step change in its economic performance and is well placed to play an even more important role. It has demonstrated other key elements of smart specialisation, the importance of agility, an advantage of not being too big, and public and private partners agreeing and working to a clear, comprehensive, proactive and responsive plan with accountability and responsibility in place alongside frequent monitoring and risk mitigation. Strategic economic developments are being brought forward hand in hand with housing development which will deliver large scale and broad based growth making a meaningful contribution to rebalancing the economy.
A new science park and other highly visible and accessible employment sites are ready, available and attracting new occupiers. The economic strategy going forward for Exeter and its wider area of influence is to be even more focussed on the knowledge economy. It is in the knowledge economy in which the UK can differentiate itself within the realities of a global economy and it is in this area that Exeter holds a number of special assets – the University, the Met Office and some companies all have elements within them that may be considered world class. These organisations and their collaborations with others point to the focus needing to be on opportunities in the following sectors and also in the rich interrelationships between these sectors: Big Data, Climate Change, Health, Water, and Agri-tech. There are exciting inter-linkages across these fields which could provide applied solutions to and responses to market opportunities which are potentially most commercially relevant.
The overall development programme for the city’s economy is geared to the creation of some 26,000 jobs over the next 12-15 years. A study undertaken last year concluded that the estimated investment in delivering all developments in the programme equates to more than £3.9 billion.
Have a look at what other people think at – http://tinyurl.com/p4wzlzu.
Unashamedly the message is – Invest in Exeter: Expect Success.
Richard Ball
Assistant Director Economy
Exeter City Council
Investing in our youth
Adjacent Local Government sheds light on the European Youth Strategy and what role the Eastern Partnership Youth Window plays.
Young people are key for a successful future and economic development throughout any nation. Through its Youth Strategy 2010-18, the European Commission aims to provide better and equal opportunities for young people in education and in the job market; and, encourage young people to actively participate in society.
Almost 6 million people are unemployed in the EU, with around 2 million vacancies, and a third of employers report difficulties in recruiting staff with the skills they need. Unemployment is one of the key areas that the Commission believes is important to resolve, especially for young people.
The Commission understands that it is important to invest in young people in order to invest in our future development. At the forefront of their priorities they aim to boost skills, employability and the modernisation of education, training and youth systems, through a number of programmes.
One of these is the Erasmus+ initiative, which is a seven year scheme that will help support to study, train, and work or volunteer abroad for 4 million people. It has 3 main targets: two-thirds of the budget is allocated to learning opportunities abroad for individuals, within the EU and beyond: the remainder will support partnerships between educational institutions, youth organisations, businesses, local and regional authorities and NGO’s, as well as reforms to modernise education and training and to promote innovation, entrepreneurship and employability.
Through the Erasmus+ programme, 2 million higher education students will be able to study or train abroad; 650,000 vocational students and apprentices will receive grants to study, train or work abroad; and, 125,000 schools, vocational education and training institutions, higher and adult education institutions, youth organisations and enterprises will receive funding to set up 25,000 ‘strategic partnerships’ to promote the exchange of experience and links with the world of work.
Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, Androulla Vassillou is supporting Erasmus+ and the importance of education and training. “I am pleased that the European Parliament has adopted Erasmus+ and proud that we have been able to secure a 40% budget increase compared with the current programmes,” she said. “This demonstrates the EU’s commitment to education and training. Erasmus+ will also contribute to the fight against youth unemployment by giving young people the opportunity to increase their knowledge and skills through experience abroad.
“As well as providing grants for individuals, Erasmus+ will support partnerships to help people make the transition from education to work, and reforms to modernise and improve the quality of education in Member States. This is crucial if we are to equip our young generation with the qualifications and skills they need to succeed in life,” concludes Vassilliou.1
Along with Erasmus+ another programme that aims to support cooperation with Eastern Partnership countries in the field of youth, is The Eastern Partnership Youth Window. The programme had a total budget of €29m for 2012/2013 – €14m of which was dedicated for 2012 and €15m for 2013.
Launched in 2009, the programme’s main aim was to bring Eastern European countries closer to the EU through political and economic integration. In total more than 1,400 projects will be financed involving around 21,000 young people and youth workers. The Programme is supported through the EU Youth Action Programme, and will provide funds to promote cooperation opportunities among young people, youth workers and organisations from the European Union and the Eastern Partnerships countries.
Under the Eastern Partnership Youth Window, projects that seek support will need to meet a number of priorities, including:
- Demonstrating a clear commitment to provide support to young people with fewer opportunities living in rural or deprived urban areas;
- Raising awareness about the nature of youth work;
- Promoting the sharing of best practices in the sphere of youth work.
Speaking about the Partnership and the integral role it will play in supporting young people across the whole of Europe, Stefan Fule, Commissioner for Enlargement and the European Neighbourhood Policy said: “Young people are crucial for the harmonious development of inclusive societies and for successful future collaboration with our neighbours.
“For this reason we have approved this programme, to support young people – particular those with fewer opportunities – and their active participation in society.” 2
Through initiatives such as these the European Commission is committed to boosting education and training throughout Europe and give young people the best possible start in life they can. Programmes such as the Erasmus+ will help more than 4 million people to receive essential help to achieve employability and invest in potential leaders of the future.
1 http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-13-1110_en.htm
2 http://www.eurograduate.com/article.asp?id=4252&pid=1
Adjacent Local Government
Empower, support and encourage action
Emma Greenwood, head of policy development at Cancer Research UK explains the importance of early diagnosis for cancer within local communities.
Cancer remains a major focus for the health service in England and, after the Health and Social Care Act came into force earlier this year, local authorities have an even bigger part to play than before.
Local Authorities have long been engaged with the health of their communities, but the Health and Social Care Act has reaffirmed that responsibility and given them specific public health and health promotion functions. Health and Wellbeing Boards have been established to bring together organisations with a responsibility for health across a local area and help identify the needs of the local population.
Empowering local populations to manage their own health effectively should be a key part of a local authority’s public health responsibility. While this clearly includes action on lifestyle factors such as smoking, obesity and alcohol, it’s equally important to raise awareness of symptoms that could indicate something serious, and encourage people to take action.
Dealing with the increasing burden of cancer is one of the biggest challenges facing our health service. Responsible for 29% of premature deaths – higher than any other disease group and, as our population continues to age, cancer incidence will only increase. Study after study has shown that England and the UK tend to lag badly behind the best performing European countries in cancer survival and, over time, with the exception of breast cancer, the gap doesn’t appear to be narrowing.
Earlier diagnosis and access to the best treatment are both crucial to improving survival. Over the last 40 years we have seen huge increases in survival for many cancers – more than 95% of men who are diagnosed with testicular cancer will now survive longer than 10 years, along with well over 70% of women with breast cancer. Further progress is possible, but in many cases survival has remained stubbornly low. For example, 10 year survival for lung and oesophageal cancers has remained below 10%, with only very slight improvement since the 1970s.
We know that improving public awareness and urging people to engage with their local services works and is cost-effective. The recent Be Clear on Cancer campaign, run by the Department of Health and Cancer Research UK, saw hundreds more lung cancer patients receiving surgery who otherwise wouldn’t have done, which is vital to improve survival. So how can Local Authorities help?
With responsibility for public health and early diagnosis shared between national and local healthcare commissioners, providers and Local Authorities, it is essential that these bodies work together closely. Research UK has recently launched a local statistics website (www.cruk.org/localstats) to help local authorities, health and wellbeing boards and other local health and Government organisations pinpoint areas for particular focus and compare their area to others around the country.
Local Authorities have an important voice, and they work with and provide services to many of the most vulnerable people in our communities. Engaging with those people and helping them to manage their health and take action if they do have potentially serious symptoms is an area where Local Authorities could make a real and significant difference. Cancer Research UK’s popular Talk Cancer workshops (http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancerinfo/healthyliving/healthinyourcommunity/earlydiagnosisworkshops/) are aimed at individuals and teams who have a remit to promote health and wellbeing, either through their existing professional roles, or in a voluntary capacity.
Each local area has to identify the issues which matter most to their local population and decide on the best way to address them. By working through health and wellbeing boards, CCGs, local NHS providers, charities such as Cancer Research UK and the public, local authorities can play a crucial role in improving early diagnosis in their communities.
Emma Greenwood
Head of policy development
Cancer Research UK
Tel: 0300 123 1022
The cancer challenge
Commissioner for Health, Tonio Borg supports Europe’s concerns about cancer and the huge challenges it presents.
Cancer continues to present a huge challenge for patients and their families, for health policy and for health services across the European Union and indeed beyond.
This is a challenge that can only grow bigger as the population grows older and that’s why we need to address it head on. In 2012 alone, 2.6 million European Union citizens were diagnosed with some form of cancer. In the same year, cancer killed close to 1.3 million people in the same European Union.
Given today’s incidence rates, we expect that in the European Union, 1 in 3 men and 1 in 4 women will be affected by cancer before reaching 75 years of age. Cancer is not something that happens only to others. It happens to everybody: our family members, friends, neighbours, colleagues.
This is why cancer is, and must remain, a high priority at all levels. For over 20 years, the European Commission has contributed towards addressing the cancer challenge. Indeed, the Commission is committed to supporting Member States in the field of cancer.
The Commission launched the European Partnership for Action against cancer back in 2009 and a Joint Action with Member States to implement it. The Joint action provides a framework for identifying and sharing information, capacity and expertise in cancer prevention and control.
This coordination of activities at EU level has helped to pool together expertise, avoid duplication of efforts, and further supported Member States in the development of their national cancer strategies. Let me briefly mention three examples which highlight the added value of such joint action:
National Cancer Control Strategies
First, we have agreed that by 2014, all EU Member States will have implemented National Cancer Control Strategies or Plans. This will contribute to our ambitious goal to reduce the incidence of cancer by 15% by 2020, as set in our Communication on action against cancer.
Second, the Commission, in co-operation with the International Agency on Research on Cancer, is supporting Member States in implementing screening programmes by developing guidelines for quality assurance for breast, cervical and colorectal cancer screening.
Third, the Commission is currently working on revising the European Code against Cancer, first adopted in 1987. The code is a set of recommendations which seek to get across to citizens two clear measures:
- Certain cancers may be avoided by adopting healthier lifestyles: and here the code includes, for example, the recommendations not to smoke;
- Cancers may be cured, or the prospects of cure greatly increased if they are detected early.
We are confident to launch the revised Code early 2014 and very much hope that patient and medical organisations will play a key role in promoting it. This is particularly important in reaching out to citizens to help prevent cancer, or at least diagnose it at an early stage.
The results so far at this Joint Action will be presented in an Open Forum to be held in Ljubljana in November 2014.
Looking further ahead, in 2014 the Commission intends to launch a new Joint Action with Member States on Comprehensive Cancer Control. The aims of this new Joint action, which we are currently discussing with the Member States, are to identify key elements and quality standards for cancer control in Europe, and to facilitate co-operation among Member States.
This includes the exchange of best practices as well as defining key elements to ensure optimal cancer care. Let me now focus on breast cancer screening, where we have asked the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre to update the current European screening and quality assurance guidelines.
The new guidelines – scheduled for 2015 – will help Member States develop and modernise their strategies on breast screening and management, in the best interest of millions of women across the EU.
The new guidelines will form the basis of a set of minimum quality standards for breast cancer services and a voluntary assurance scheme, to be underpinned by accreditation.
This voluntary scheme – the first of its kind in the EU – would place the focus firmly on the patient and would cover all aspects of diagnosis and care. Let me add that our Joint Research Centre is in the process of setting up a European Cancer Information System, to bring together cancer registries from across Europe. Once again, this work will be taken forward in close cooperation with all relevant stakeholders.
Harmonised data is key to enable better monitoring of the direct effects and benefits of cancer policy interventions, and to allow accurate comparisons to be made across regional and national boundaries. As such, the system will provide a valuable resource for research on cancer, fostering greater understanding of inequalities and related causes.
Still major work to be done
We have come a long way in fighting cancer. There is much work being undertaken and more work is in the pipeline.
It is important to ensure that all this work is taken forward in a co-ordinated and coherent manner. Our success depends very much on sound investments, on sustainable actions, developed in partnership.
To improve the overall governance of our work on cancer, we are considering the creation of a European Union Experts Group on Cancer Control with Member States’ representatives and stakeholders, including health professionals and patients organisations. Such a group could help to ensure that a sharp focus is kept on priorities that actions are effectively coordinated and duplication of effort is avoided.
Let me conclude by reassuring you that the Commission remains fully committed to cancer control policy. Our goals remain to prevent cancer where we can, and to improve the prospects of cancer patients obtaining appropriate and timely diagnosis, information and care.
Article taken from a speech given at The European Cancer Congress – 30 September 2013
Tonio Borg
Commissioner for Health
European Commission
