We were delighted to host nurses and AHPs supporting people with cancer to join us for the Celebrating Personalised Care Conference in Southampton on 6th March 2025. Thank you to everyone who attended and engaged with the group discussions.

The conference opened with powerful patient and carer testimonies from Carla and Eileen, two members of our Patient and Public Involvement Network.

Eileen & Carla set the tone for the day perfectly

We celebrated good practice in personalised care and explored the role of the cancer CNS/AHP workforce in delivering personalised care.

In the lunch break attendees had the opportunity to view a range of posters celebrating personalised care projects across Wessex. You can find a link to all the posters at the bottom of this page.

Evaluation

The evaluation showed that attendees were very satisfied with the day. Participants reported that they felt they had developed an understanding of the core professional principles, values, and behaviours relating to personalised cancer care, and gained insights into local approaches helping people make informed choices as they live with or are affected by cancer.

They also felt that they had explored methods for providing accessible and actionable support to people living with and affected by cancer. Attendees were satisfied that they had developed an appreciation for the importance of multidisciplinary collaboration in delivering holistic care for people affected by cancer and learned about best practice in developing personalised care plans that address the unique needs of individuals living with and affected by cancer.

Listening to all the interesting work going on in the area, has just inspired me so much!

Participants particularly valued the session on the ACCEND framework, and praised the speakers with lived experience of cancer for setting the tone for the day. Feedback indicated that future personalised care events should aim to have more representation from colleagues working in community and primary care settings.

See the ACCEND presentation slides with links to useful resources

Really enjoyed the ACCEND workshop as it allowed me to look at my own practice within the context of the framework and see how I demonstrate many of the competencies in my role

Personalised Care Posters

Clare Clayden-Lewis, Macmillan Lead Breast Clinical Nurse Specialist

Stephanie Alderman, Lead Breast Clinical Nurse Specialist

We invited attendees to submit an abstract relating to work conducted to improve personalised care across the cancer pathway. Submissions were welcome from across a range of settings, from screening to diagnosis and during treatment, as well as prehabilitation and rehabilitation.

Abstracts relating to projects about patient-initiated follow-up, primary care, and care in the community were also welcomed. A number of submissions were received from those who had taken part in the Principles of Personalised Care Module, cohosted with the University of Southampton. Others took the opportunity to share posters that they had previously presented at national conferences, such as UKONS.

Everyone who submitted abstracts was invited to present at the conference. Most were presented as posters, however four of the abstracts were selected for oral ‘PechaKucha’ style presentations. Speakers were challenged to present 20 slides, each displayed for 25 seconds, resulting in a presentation that emphasised concise, fast-paced, and visually engaging storytelling.

Laura Miller, PCN Lead Nurse

Dawn Cousins, Myeloid Haematology Clinical Nurse Specialist