My Breakthrough
My Story by the St. Michaels Breast Care Group
We met on a hospital ward in 2001 – we’d both had mastectomies following breast cancer. We clicked immediately and have been firm friends ever since. We both agreed that we’d received excellent care from St Michael’s Hospital, so when the Royal Cornwall NHS Trust announced they were closing it because of a financial deficit, we felt really strongly that we had to do something about it.
We campaigned on behalf of our breast care group – St Michael’s Breast Care Group – for three things: the return of breast services to St Michael’s Hospital, the provision of post-operative reconstructive surgery at the hospital and the recommencement of the Family History Service for the area.
We went to a lot of meetings and tried to get ourselves heard, but nothing worked. We were becoming really frustrated when someone suggested we go to Breakthrough’s Westminster Fly-In. We had no idea what to expect before we went, but the atmosphere was fantastic. Meeting so many other people doing similar things to us, we immediately started to gain confidence and realised that we could make ourselves heard.
We also met our local MP there, Julia Goldsworthy, and she was a real support. The Fly-In really kick started our campaign. From there, we helped set up a visit with the then Health Secretary, Patricia Hewitt, and compiled a detailed report. The CAN team were incredibly supportive – they came and met with us and regularly helped, particularly with identifying decision makers and how we could influence them. Writing the report was exhausting and it took months – but it was worth it. We presented it to the Chief Executive of the Trust and within weeks he announced that he was reinstating breast cancer services at St Michael’s, as well introducing reconstructive services, and bringing back the Family History Service. We were over the moon!
We’re still campaigning though… you have to stay focused. We have to keep on top of the situation because if we don’t they might lapse. We received excellent care so we want to make sure that women coming after us do too. And we certainly couldn’t have done it without Breakthrough.
Breakthrough Campaigns & Advocacy Network now has over 1,000 members. This fantastic milestone was celebrated with a champagne reception on 27th November in Westminster.
To campaign alongside Breakthrough CAN members like Anna and Margaret, join Breakthrough’s Campaigns & Advocacy Network. Visit www.breakthrough.org.uk/CAN or call 020 7025 2485 to find out more.
