Party Conferences 2011

Putting politicians on the spot

Beating Bowel Cancer, along with Action on Hearing Loss (formerly RNID) and the British Society of Gastroenterology hosted debates on barriers to early diagnosis at this year’s party conferences, and invited you to join in on Twitter.

'Patient or doctor – whose fault is late diagnosis?' encouraged lively discussion between politicians, health professionals, and members of the public to explore what is getting in the way of people taking prompt action over their symptoms, and where responsibility for early diagnosis lies.  It was our opportunity to raise awareness of the issues affecting bowel cancer patients and put some of the most senior politicians in the country on the spot.

We produced a short film to show at the meetings which includes Elaine Gardner (Patient Voice) and Keith Skerman (Patient Voice) talking about their experience of being diagnosed with bowel cancer.

Summary of our debates

Liberal Democrat

The fringe event at the Liberal Democrat party conference took place on Tuesday 20 September and was chaired by Stephen Lloyd MP.  Our expert panel included Anne Marie Hunter (Beating Bowel Cancer Patient Voice), Prof Chris Hawkey (Professor of Gastroenterology at Nottingham University), Ruth Thomsen (President of the British Academy of Audiology) and Baroness Jolly

You can read the write up of our Liberal Democrat party conference fringe debate at Health Policy Insight

Take a look at the photos from our Liberal Democrat party conference fringe debate

Labour

The fringe event at the Labour party conference took place on Monday 26 September and was chaired by Jackie Ashley (Guardian correspondent).  Our expert panel included Stuart Stevenson (Beating Bowel Cancer Patient Voice), Prof Chris Hawkey (Professor of Gastroenterology at Nottingham University), John Day (Head of Audiology for North East Wales NHS Trust) and Debbie Abrahams MP

You can read the write up of our Labour party conference fringe debate at Health Policy Insight

Take a look at the photos from our Labour party conference fringe debate

Conservative

The fringe event at the Conservative party conference took place on Tuesday 4 October and was chaired by Sarah Wollaston MP. Our expert panel included Julie Sneddon (Beating Bowel Cancer Patient Voice), Prof Chris Hawkey (Professor of Gastroenterology at Nottingham University) and Daniel Poulter MP.

Read the summary of our Conservative party conference fringe debate.

Take a look at the photos from our Conservative party conference fringe debate.

Thanks for joining in on Twitter

Thank you to all of you who joined our debate on Twitter and contributed your experience of being diagnosed with bowel cancer using the hashtag #earlydiagnosis.  The tweets were broadcast to the panel and attendees on a 'Twitterfall’ at each of the events and it was incredably powerful to read about your experiences during the debates.