Work by UWE Bristol lecturer features in Government’s National Cancer Plan

Work by a UWE Bristol academic has been included in the Government’s National Cancer Plan.

A policy framework co-authored by senior adult nursing lecturer Dr Julie Armoogum features in the new plan, which sets the direction for cancer care, services and healthcare professional training in England for the next decade.

The strategy – published last week – promises earlier cancer diagnosis and faster treatment to ensure three quarters of patients are surviving cancer for at least five years by 2035.

Included in the strategy is an action to extend cancer nursing training and career development pathways through the Aspirant Cancer Career and Education Development (ACCEND) programme, which was co-founded by Dr Armoogum in 2023.

ACCEND, developed and co-created by Dr Armoogum with partner organisations including NHS England, Macmillan Cancer Support and the UK Oncology Nursing Society, provides a national framework for cancer education and training for nursing and allied health professionals. The ACCEND framework was downloaded from the NHS website 94,000 times in 2025 and has been implemented by 80 per cent of cancer alliances across England, benefitting thousands of cancer care allied health professionals and nurses. UWE Bristol’s Post Graduate Certificate in Cancer Care, funded by NHS England, was launched in 2024.

Dr Armoogum, who won an Advance HE National Teaching Excellence Award in 2024 for her work in this field, said: “My reaction to ACCEND being included in the plan was one of absolute delight and huge pride. This is really demonstrating that the work we’re doing at the university, and we’ve done as part of ACCEND, will influence and impact on generations of nurses and allied health professionals. By strengthening career pathways, confidence and motivation, ACCEND will have a lasting impact on the workforce – and ultimately on the care provided to patients and families.”

Action 23 of the National Cancer Plan is to ensure ‘Every patient will have a clinical nurse specialist or other named lead to support them through diagnosis and treatment’ and to achieve this, the plan commits to ‘Extend cancer nursing training and career development pathways through the ACCEND programme’. Within the plan, the government will ‘prioritise grants for clinical nurse specialists to target the areas of highest need and expand the ACCEND programme to provide more training opportunities and career pathways for cancer nurses and cancer support staff. This will narrow inequalities and ensure that more patients across the country get the support they need’.

Dr Armoogum, an academic in the School of Health and Social Wellbeing, believes the inclusion of ACCEND in the plan will improve services for cancer patients and their families in the years to come.

She said: “Embedding ACCEND into national policy will help build a more knowledgeable and empowered workforce. When staff feel confident in their roles and well supported in their development, services improve. Enhanced training, including communication skills, means patients benefit from clearer, more compassionate conversations and staff have the knowledge they need to support patients to navigate treatments and their impacts.”

Dr Armoogum has now been working in cancer care for 26 years. Describing her motivation for focusing on this area of nursing, she said: “I realised that this is a field where you can have a huge impact on people's lives. Since I began working in cancer care, I’ve felt completely and utterly passionate and dedicated to improving the lives of people with cancer through clinical practice education and research.”