Role Summary & Application Form
CANCER RESEARCH UK
PATIENT REPRESENTATIVES FOR ADVISORY GROUPS FOR CR-UK’s POLICY TEAM
We would like to recruit patient representatives for three advisory groups for CR-UK’s Policy
team. These Advisory Groups will help shape specific research projects and policy reports. We
would like to have patient representatives involved in these discussions, to share their
thoughts and experiences from the perspective of people who have been affected by cancer.
Background:
c In order to do this, we use evidence from research. Some of this research is done by us or
by other teams in CR-UK, and sometimes we fund (or ‘commission’) external research to
inform our work.
Over the next year, our policy team is funding three research projects to help write reports
on the following key issues:
 Evaluating pathology services across the UK:
Although they rarely meet, almost all patients have their cancer diagnosed by
pathologists. Whenever a biopsy is taken or a tumour removed it’s a pathologist who
tells the surgeon what type of cancer it is, whether the tumour has been completely
removed and, increasingly, what the most effective treatment is likely to be. We know
how important pathology is for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, so we want to
understand how their workload might be changing over the next five years, and what the
NHS and the Government could do to make sure that we can have a good pathology
service in the future.
 Performance and future of Multidisciplinary Teams (MDTs) in NHS Cancer Services
Every cancer patient’s case is discussed at a multidisciplinary team meeting – a meeting
of doctors, nurses and other health professionals who make decisions on the patient’s
diagnosis, treatment and care. We’d like to understand more about how well they are
coping in a stretched NHS and how they could be improved to make them work better for
patients.
 Decision making for the treatment of cancer in older people across the UK
We know that older cancer patients are less likely to receive treatment for their disease.
However, the reasons for this are not clear. We want to better understand any barriers
to older patients accessing treatment. This research will focus on clinical decision
making across the UK and whether treatment decisions are made based on appropriate
assessments or assumptions based on chronological age.
We are hoping that these findings of these research projects will inform our future policy
work as we aim to make sure NHS cancer services are improved.
About the Advisory Groups
We are in the process of setting up advisory groups for each of these projects, which will
review research applications and advise on each project throughout the process, including
looking over the draft report as it is written.
To make sure this research is as useful as possible, and really benefits people affected by
cancer, we want to have one patient representative on each of these advisory groups. We
want to have a patient representative involved in these discussions to ensure we are asking
the right questions, answering them in the best way and communicating our findings
effectively.
Role Summary & Application Form
About the role:
If you become a Patient Representative on one of these advisory groups, your activities
could include:
 Reviewing and providing feedback on research applications
 Preparing for and attending 4 meetings in London between November 2015 and July
2016, as well as providing comments by e-mail and telephone as required
 When the research is published, we may also ask you to review communications
documents to help shape how we communicate the findings of the research.
 Respect the viewpoints of others in the group and participating constructively in
meetings
 Respect any requests for confidentiality of the deliberations and decisions made by the
group
 Providing the perspective of someone affected by cancer where appropriate in
discussions, and more broadly providing patient perspectives
 To complete a de-brief form after each meeting to feedback about your experience
Time commitment
The anticipated time commitment is as follows:
 Attendance of 4 meetings, in the Cancer Research UK’s office in London or through
teleconference, between November 2015 and July 2016.
 Pre-reading on the role and before for each meeting
 Providing comments by email or telephone as required
Skills and Attributes
The skills and attributes that we are looking for are:
 Experience of cancer (either personally or through the experience of a loved one).
 A keen interest in policy issues or research
 Objectivity with the ability to consider the needs of all people with experience of cancer
in relation to the work
 Good communication skills with an ability to listen to and respect differing opinions and
constructively and confidently express own view
 Ability to maintain confidentiality where required
 Experience of attending formal meetings, ideally as a patient representative (this may be
in any setting)
Further desirable skills for the role are:
 If you are applying for the role on the advisory group about treatment for older people
(usually defined as over 75), ideally we would like you to have past experience of caring
for an older person or for you to be an older person yourself.
Training and Support
 We will provide you with background information on the role, the group and general
information about Cancer Research UK, as well as further information before each
meeting.
 You will be assigned a key contact who you can contact with further questions.
 We will pay reasonable travel expenses for the meetings, which will take place in London
during office hours (Mon – Fri, 9am – 5pm).
 We will offer an honorarium of which covers preparation, attendance and participation
at the meetings. CRUK are currently reviewing the amount we pay for such
Role Summary & Application Form
opportunities, as will confirm the amount as soon as possible. We are unfortunately
unable to pay for induction and training opportunities.
Application process:
If you are interested in applying please complete the application form below and return by
16 November 2015 (Monday) to: involvement@cancer.org.uk
Telephone interviews are anticipated to take place on the 19th and 20th of November.
Following this, successful candidates will be confirmed into role and provided information
about the role and invited to the first meeting – in late November 2015 for the MDTs and
pathology projects and December for the surgery project.
Role Summary & Application Form
Application form for Patient Representatives on Cancer Research UK’s
Policy Research Advisory Groups
Please complete the form below and email it back to us by 16 November 2015 (Monday) to:
involvement@cancer.org.uk. If you have any questions, please contact us for clarification.
Personal Details
Title:
Surname:
First name(s):
Home Address & Contact Information:
Address:
Town/city:
Postcode:
Phone no:
Email:
Please tell us which of the following commissioned research project(/s) you would like to be
involved with:
 Evaluating pathology services across the UK
 Performance and future of Multidisciplinary Teams (MDTs) in NHS Cancer Services
 Decision making for the treatment of cancer in older people across the UK
Please tell us why you are interested in being on one of Cancer Research UK’s policy
department commissioned research advisory groups:
Role Summary & Application Form
Having read the enclosed role description and background information, please describe why
you would be suited to this opportunity. Please detail relevant skills and experience, these
may be from your personal life, cancer experience, paid or voluntary work or training and
education. Is there any other experience you feel is relevant for this role that you would like
to highlight?
Please let us know whether you currently sit on any other Governance boards, steering
committees, or are already involved with CRUK:
Availability
 Are you available for phone interviews: on 19-20th November? (Please tick if you are
available)
 Are you available for a meeting in London during the week commencing 23rd November
2015?
If not, please specify any dates or times you are unavailable during week commencing 23rd
November 2015:___________________________