Help us improve breast cancer services

What’s the project about? 

The Service Pledge is a programme dedicated to improving breast cancer services. It brings together patients, healthcare professionals and Cancer Alliances to improve everyone's experience of breast cancer.

Through the Service Pledge, we help hospitals gather patient and staff feedback on their breast care service through surveys and focus groups. This feedback helps to identify practical ways to improve patients' experiences. Through listening and learning from each other, patients and healthcare professionals work in a true partnership to design and deliver improvements.

Soon, we'll be recruiting volunteers for the Service Pledge. These volunteers represent the patient voice and support local breast cancer patients, helping to improve services and care for everyone. If you're interested in becoming a patient advocate, we'd love to hear from you.

We're planning to run Service Pledge programmes in South-East London, Somerset, Wiltshire, Avon & Gloucestershire, North-East of England and North Cumbria. Patient Advocates can be based anywhere in the UK.

Who’s organising it? 

Name of project lead: Eliotte Long  

Job title: Service Pledge senior officer 

Organisation: Breast Cancer Now 

Email address: service.pledge@breastcancernow.org 

Who can take part? 

We'd love for you to join us as a patient advocate if you:  

• Have had a diagnosis of primary breast cancer in the last 6 years and have finished active (hospital-based) treatments at least 6 months ago
• OR you have secondary breast cancer and were diagnosed at least 6 months ago
• Are interested in patient involvement  
• Are a good communicator and confident speaking during meetings with healthcare professionals and patients  
• Have experience representing the patient voice or advocating for others, ideally within a healthcare/NHS setting  

Our meetings take place online so you can be based anywhere in the UK.

Why do you want me to be involved?  

As a patient advocate, you'll help improve breast cancer services by supporting local patients to work with healthcare professionals. You'll draw on your experiences to review improvement suggestions and how to implement them.

What will you ask me to do? 

As a patient advocate, we might ask you to:

• Review patient and staff feedback for a service and work with Breast Cancer Now staff to provide insight of where the hospital is doing well and suggestions for areas to improve
• Attend the Hospital Feedback Meeting to provide a patient perspective on being involved in the Service Pledge
• Meet patient representatives to provide support and to further understand the views and experiences of local patients
• Attend improvement discussions with hospital staff, local patient representatives, other patient advocates and Breast Cancer Now staff
• Provide expert impartial advice, drawing on your experience to review and discuss services improvements
• Attend the Progress-Sharing Event where services report on programme successes, share best practice across Cancer Alliance hospitals and help identify practical solutions to any challenges

How do I get involved? 

If you're interested in supporting the Service Pledge this year, or if you would like to find out more, please email us at service.pledge@breastcancernow.org. 

When’s the deadline? 

8 August 2025