CEO Frank welcomes report on impact of COVID on cancer care

Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust CEO, Frank Fletcher, has welcomed the publication of a new report, which has highlighted the true impact coronavirus is having on young people's cancer care.

A survey, conducted by the Children and Young People’s Cancer Coalition – a group of charities, including the Trust, that support children and young people with cancer and their families - has revealed that collectively their income has plummeted by as much as 60%.

This has led to peer-to-peer support and advice events, sibling support groups and schemes that allow families to keep in contact during treatment, being scaled back or stopped altogether.

Frank is Deputy Chair and one of the founders of the Coalition, which was set up with the aim of families knowing, that whatever stage their child is at, all the relevant services and charities are working together to get the best outcomes for their child.

Key findings from the survey included:

• Coronavirus had affected the annual income of nearly all the coalition partner charities (23 of 24) with the proportion of lost income for most estimated to be between 30-60%
• Organisations had to stop some services, whilst others have had to scale them down in order to keep them going.
• All respondents said that their ability to deliver services will be affected by coronavirus - 50% reported longer term impact and of those remaining, the majority anticipate an effect in the next 9 or 12 months

Read the full reaction here - Young Cancer Patients Turned Away As Financial Hardship Bites