Written evidence from Mix and Match provided to APPG on Stem Cell Transplantation – available to download

Quick link: Download the project response to the APPG inquiry

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Stem Cell Transplantation launched an inquiry on 5th August 2020 “seeking to understand how a patient’s background can lead to barriers in accessing treatment and care.” Anthony Nolan, one of the UK’s stem cell registries, and one of the most well-known and central charities for supporting patients in need or receipt of a transplant, is the APPG secretariat. 

A year into the Mix and Match research project, I felt there were important contributions for the research to make to any discussion about this issue.

In this document, which is available for you to download here, you can read the submitted evidence from Mix and Match to the inquiry. 

The inquiry asked several open questions, and I felt the project was best placed to answer some specific ones amongst these: 

• What barriers might patients with blood cancers and blood disorders face in accessing stem cell transplantation and post-transplant clinical care? 

• What are the experiences of people and their families who have struggled to access treatment, care and support that meets the full range of their physical, psychological and practical needs? 

• What national, regional and local levers would support improving access to the care and support stem cell transplant patients need? Do you have any examples of best practice in other areas of healthcare? 

It is important to note that at the time of submission, this project was at only a year into its research. More findings, and published peer-reviewed research outputs to support these, will become available as the project matures. These will all be published here on the project website.