Lincolnshire showcased on how rural and coastal communities are pioneering new approaches to cancer support

Rural Access to Health and Care Services Promoting Rural Best practice Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

In October, the United Kingdom Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (UKASCC) hosted the 3-day Supportive Oncology Conference in Manchester. They welcomed clinicians, practitioners and academics from across the globe — all united by a shared goal: improving the quality of life for people living with cancer.

Among them was a team from Lincolnshire, led by Kathie McPeake, Macmillan Living with Cancer Programme Manager, alongside Dr David Nelson and Dr Samuel Cooke from the Lincoln Institute of Rural and Coastal Health (LIRCH) at the University of Lincoln. Together, they showcased how rural and coastal communities are pioneering new approaches to cancer support.

The Lincolnshire team were proud to present three posters at the conference, each highlighting a different strand of their work.

Kathie presented two of these. The first, titled ‘Developing a Living with Cancer Data Dashboard to monitor impact and address health inequalities in a rural and coastal setting’, demonstrated how data and patient stories are being used to track progress and improve outcomes for people living with cancer in Lincolnshire.

The dashboard is now a vital tool across the ICB and ULHT, and is helping teams track progress against locally agreed goals and national benchmarks, as well as being used to inform planning and service delivery across sub-programmes and projects.

The second poster, ‘The implementation of physical activity for people living with cancer in the rural and coastal county of Lincolnshire’, told the story of how local partnerships are making it easier for people to access physical activity — a vital part of recovery and wellbeing.

Designed to support people living with cancer through movement and connection, the Fighting Fit programme is a collaboration with the Lincoln City Foundation and leisure providers across the county, with sessions now running in communities across the county, So far, 467 people have been referred to take part and a Fighting Fit 5k run/walk/jog is also offered to people living with cancer at Belton House, Grantham, with plans in development to expand these sessions to other parts of the county from early 2026. In addition, rehabilitation sessions - designed to help patients build strength and resilience before treatment — will launch in Lincoln and Gainsborough from November 2025.

Meanwhile, having identified that there are explicit challenges accessing supportive oncology services in rural and coastal areas, LIRCH shared their vision for a more equitable future. Their poster, ‘Advancing Place-based Supportive Oncology to tackle rural and coastal inequities and deprivation’, laid out a set of principles for delivering supportive cancer care that is rooted in place and responsive to local needs. It also introduced their latest initiative: a UK-wide Place-based Cancer Equity Research Network, designed to ensure that rural and coastal voices are heard across all four nations of the UK.

Kathie said: “We know that people in rural and coastal areas often face additional barriers to accessing supportive oncology services. Through collaboration, data, and community insight, we’re working to change that — and this conference was a fantastic opportunity to share our learning and invite others to help shape the future.”