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PCR Impact & Financial Report 2020-21 | pcr.org.uk
Keeping patients involved PATIENT VOICE
One of our main aims for this year was to develop our Patient Panel, both by increasing our number of panelists and ensuring patients living outside of London were represented. Meetings took place via Zoom to ensure the safety of panel members. In total, 28 patient representatives from across the UK reviewed applications to our 2020 grant call and decided which projects to fund compared to 12 panelists last year, most of whom were London-based. 17 patient representatives reviewed our ‘Treating Prostate Cancer, Questions and Answers’ information booklet. Their input was invaluable in enabling us to ensure our booklet is as useful as possible to the people it is designed to help.
In January, we hosted our first ever Meet the Scientists event, in which we brought patients and their family members face-to-face with our funded scientists and facilitated conversations so that researchers, patients and PCR staff could all learn from one another. Following the event, 19/19 of non-scientist participants said they were more confident understanding and asking questions about research. 20 out of 21 scientists said they felt more connected to patients and more motivated as a result. Despite the restrictions on in-person meetings, we understood the importance of connection during a time when many people are isolated. We worked to bring our community together virtually. We hosted five Zoom Q&As with nine of our funded scientists and overall, the sessions were attended by 172 people. Patients and PCR supporters engaged directly with our scientists during these sessions and were reassured that our research was continuing to make progress for prostate cancer patients. As a result of our work on Patient Voice, we were delighted to be shortlisted for the 2020 Charity Times Change Project of the Year. The biggest awards ceremony in the sector, the Charity Times Awards celebrates best practice in UK charities and not-for-profit organisations. The Change Project of the Year recognises those who have carried out a significant change project in the past 12 months which has had a positive impact on their service users.
