Understand
£600k cuts to cancer support service in Sefton set to be announced
Overview
Plans to cut more than £600,000 in funding for the Cancer Navigator Service in Sefton are being brought before councillors. The Southport and Formby Primary Care Network voted that it can no longer fund the non-medical support service because it falls outside mandatory NHS core contracts, following major national funding cuts. The funding is set to cease after 31 March, which the Southport Macmillan Centre warns will greatly reduce its operations.
Key points
- Plans to cut over £600,000 in funding to the Cancer Navigator Service are going before Sefton councillors.
- The service provides non-medical support, exercise classes, and financial guidance to cancer patients at the Southport and Formby Cancer Information and Support Centre.
- The funding cuts are driven by major national funding reductions of £607,000 affecting the Southport and Formby Primary Care Network.
- Member practices concluded unanimously that the service falls outside mandatory NHS core contracts and is no longer affordable.
- The funding is scheduled to end after 31 March, leaving the centre operating at a greatly reduced capacity.
- The Southport Macmillan Centre helped more than 600 cancer patients in the area over the previous year.