New Initiative to Provide Cancer Healthcare for Homeless People in East of England

A new initiative aimed at addressing cancer among homeless individuals in the East of England is poised to deliver essential healthcare services. This two-year program, spanning Cambridge, Peterborough, Wisbech, and King’s Lynn in Norfolk, will involve “health navigators” working within health centres and homelessness support services. The East of England Cancer Alliance is leading this project in collaboration with Anglia Ruskin University (ARU). Its goal is to eliminate the disparities homeless people encounter when attempting to access fundamental healthcare. Prof Peter Johnson, NHS clinical director for cancer, said: “Homeless people who develop cancer face particular challenges in getting help, meaning the early symptoms may not be picked up and their cancer is much harder to treat by the time it is detected.” The health navigators will conduct basic health checks and work with homeless individuals to identify their needs. They can accompany homeless people to appointments, maintain engagement with their treatment plans, and organize workshops to promote health awareness. This scheme is modeled after a pilot project, Cancerless, which was directed by Lee Smith, Professor of Public Health at ARU. It places a specific emphasis on increasing awareness of cancer-related symptoms, particularly the early detection of liver cancer. Prof Smith said: “This new initiative is focusing on liver disease and this is so important as the cancerless project identified a high prevalence of behaviours that put people at risk of cancer and multiple other chronic conditions.” Prof Peter Hoskin, a consultant oncologist and clinical director at the East of England Cancer Alliance, added that many liver cancers were only diagnosed when homeless people arrived in emergency departments. He said: “This new initiative, involving health navigators who are known and trusted by people facing homelessness in our region, is an important and effective way to address an urgent problem.” Dr Damita Abayaratne, a GP coordinating the work from the Cambridge Access Surgery, said: “This is a direct way to address what we know is a significant health inequality across the country. “We will be charting its progress and hope it may inform models of care in other areas.”