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About Cancer Voices
Filed in Public
CancerVOICES New Zealand Charitable Trust
CancerVOICES New Zealand is an advocacy group for all people affected by cancer. Our membership includes cancer patients, cancer carers and close family and whanau of people with cancer.
We believe that partnership between people affected by cancer and health professionals is key to improving cancer services, influencing and ensuring that the real issues are raised on both local and national levels.
Our Aims
To empower and give a voice to all affected by cancer- To influence the process to ensure excellence and equality in the provision of and access to treatment of all cancer patients
- To be a bridge between cancer patients, policy makers and cancer service providers.
What we do: Training and supporting representatives
To achieve our aims we have focused on cancer consumer representation, enabling trained Cancer Consumer Representatives to participate on committees, advisory groups and working parties where decisions are being made on the treatment and care of cancer patients.
To that end we have established training for Cancer Consumer Representatives, in collaboration with the Cancer Society of New Zealand, and created ongoing support for representatives.
Our Values
- Access
- There must be equity of access to the best available medical treatment and services for all patients.
- Partnership
- Patients, carers and health professionals must be equal partners in the management of a patient’s cancer.
- Information
- Patients, with their carers, are entitled to timely and comprehensive access to all information on their cancer and its management.
- Communication
- There must be a full and frank exchange of information and opinions regarding the management of a patient’s cancer by all parties to the process.
- Well-being / Quality of life
- Everyone affected by cancer, whether as patient or carer, is entitled to services that help improve their quality of life and well-being.
- Participation
- A person nominated by CancerVOICES and appointed to represent broadly based cancer interests must be involved in all strategic decision-making across the cancer control spectrum.
Privacy
Board of Trustees
n/a
Chair
Denise Robbins, Chair of CancerVOICES, is a survivor of bowel cancer and has been a member of CancerVOICES since 2004. She has published a book called: “Cancer and how to live with it”. She facilitates Living With Cancer programmes and cancer support sessions for the Cancer Society and is a Cancer Connect volunteer. She initiated and co-developed the training for Cancer Consumer Representatives and now co-facilitates the training courses and manages the process surrounding them. She is an experienced project manager and has retired from 33 years in the computing world.
David Swallow is a cancer survivor and has been a member of CancerVOICES since 2004. David has been honoured by the Queen as a Knight of the Order of St John (KStJ). He has retired from 40 years in the public service culminating in ten years as State Services Commissioner. He has had an extensive life-time commitment as a volunteer in charitable and not-for-profit organisations, including: the Order of St John (a member of the national governing body); the Board of Ambulance New Zealand (Chairman of Trustees); Government Superannuitants’ Association of NZ (Horowhenua-Kapiti Branch Committee, Immediate Past President).
Board member
Dalton Kelly has been the Chief Executive of the Cancer Society of New Zealand for the last two years. Prior to joining the Society he was Managing Director of his own packaging company, Fluteboard Group Limited. Dalton is a past Chairman of both Mary Potter Hospice and Hospice New Zealand. Previous Board Appointments include Chair, Wellington Business Development Board, President of the Buy New Zealand Made Campaign Limited,and he is currently a board member of the Employers and Manufacturers Association (Central) and a Director of Daffodil Enterprises Limited.
Board member
David Binning is a cancer survivor and lost his first wife Pam to cancer. He is the former Chairman of CancerVOICES and is a founding Trustee of the CancerVOICES Charitable Trust. He is retired from a career in international marketing and senior management at Shell and is now a director of two companies and a Consultant and Business Mentor to small to medium businesses. In addition to his work with CancerVOICES, his voluntary work has included senior roles for Export New Zealand with whom he has been actively involved since 1986; a voluntary mentor for Business Mentors New Zealand; and President and Past President for the Khandallah Tennis and Squash Club.