We are thrilled to announce that our cancer awareness and screening project has been awarded the Community Care Initiative of the Year at the HSJ Patient Safety Awards 2024. This remarkable achievement highlights the collaborative effort between the Cheshire and Merseyside Cancer Alliance and Voluntary, Community, Faith, and Social Enterprise (VCFSE) organisations across the region, including One Knowsley.
The Community Partnerships programme was developed to support local communities to reduce their risk of dying from cancer, by improving community understanding and awareness of signs and symptoms of cancer, encouraging more people to go for NHS screening when they are invited and encouraging appropriate health seeking behaviour.
At the heart of this initiative in Knowsley is Jayne Hoarty, our dedicated Social Action Lead. Jayne, alongside other Social Action Leads across Cheshire and Merseyside, works closely with local community groups to spread life-saving cancer awareness messages. Jayne’s leadership and dedication have been instrumental in bringing these vital messages to communities that need them most.
A standout success of the programme is the Soul Sisters initiative at Tower Hill Amateur Boxing Club, founded by Mel Melia. This initiative supports mothers, grandmothers and aunties of children who attend the club, many living in difficult circumstances and with no focus on their own health or wellbeing to take time for themselves, to discuss the importance of their own wellbeing, be educated on the importance of screening and checking themselves for changes or symptoms of cancer and to share experiences.
The programme contributed to Cheshire and Merseyside Cancer Alliance being ranked joint top in the most improved rates of early diagnosis in England. The partnership was developed through the VS6 and Cheshire and Warrington Infrastructure Partnership (CWIP) and the secondments to the health system to identify opportunities for cross sector partnerships and collaborations with VCFSE.
In addition to being named best Community Care Initiative of the Year at the awards, the Community Partnerships project was also a finalist in the Early-Stage Patient Safety Innovation of the Year category.
Racheal Jones, Integrated Care System VCFSE representative, Liverpool City Region VS6, said:
“This work is a real testament to the power of collaboration and partnership between the NHS and the Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise (VCFSE) Sector to reach those furthest away from securing positive health outcomes.”
Jon Hayes, Managing Director of Cheshire and Merseyside Cancer Alliance, praised the collaborative effort:
“I am delighted that this ground-breaking collaborative work has been recognised and would like to congratulate everyone involved. From the beginning they have been driven by desire to reduce health inequalities, and by the understanding that cancer messaging is most effective when communities put it into their own words.”
This award highlights the importance of partnership between the NHS and the VCFSE sector in tackling health inequalities and reaching those most in need. One Knowsley is immensely proud of our involvement and the incredible efforts of our Social Action Lead, Jayne Hoarty, in driving this lifesaving work.
