Collaborative and Compassionate Cancer Care: cancer strategy for children and young people 2021–2026

Section 5 - Development of the Strategy

An evaluation of our previous cancer plan was undertaken in 2019 by the MSN CYPC National Clinical Director. The evaluation was to review progress against the actions detailed within the last cancer plan, but also to highlight examples of good practice. Consultation was also undertaken with service users, parents / carers, partner organisations and NHS Scotland staff, held over a twelve week period from February 2020, to gain valuable insight and also to help inform the content of this strategy.

National virtual workshops were held across the summer in 2020, with representation from all cancer specialities, service managers, partner organisations and service users to debate and determine the required focus within the cancer strategy. This provided evidence of strong support from across the children and young people's cancer community for the strategy.

The MSN CYPC National Clinical Director developed an initial draft strategy and following this a Cancer Strategy Oversight Group was initiated to review and finalise; incorporating the wide feedback received. The group consisted of representatives from each of the associated professions aligned to children and young people's cancer services, including appropriate geographical representation (Appendix 6). A further consultation period was held regarding the content of the updated draft strategy between the 1^st and 15^th August 2021. Feedback from members of our MSN CYPC Youth Advisory Forum and Parent / Carer Group ensured that the service user's voice was represented prior to moving to final publication. This collaborative approach has paved the way for the development of this ambitious new cancer strategy to ensure that all children and young people with cancer in Scotland receive high quality care throughout their journey.