Top cancer experts will join more than 200 local patients, supporters and care teams for a groundbreaking Cancer Summit in the East of England next week.

The high-profile event will feature key national speakers including the country’s leading cancer specialist, Professor Peter Johnson, NHS England’s National Clinical Director for Cancer.

Cancer team members will be attending from across the region’s hospitals and community settings along with patients, carers and representatives from major cancer charities and support groups.

The aim of the all-day event on Wednesday 18 September is to celebrate and share success while mapping opportunities and improvements for the future, in line with the NHS Long Term Plan and East of England Cancer Strategy.

Professor Peter Johnson will present the priorities of the National Cancer Programme, followed by a powerful patient story from Ceinwen Giles, who is CEO at Shine Cancer Support, a charity supporting adults in their 20s to 40s with cancer. Ceinwen is a patient advocate whose work in this sector was preceded by her diagnosis of stage four non-Hodgkin lymphoma six weeks after her daughter was born prematurely.

Professor Johnson said: “The Cancer Summit is a great opportunity to take a look at cancer services across the East of England, to review progress and see where we can go further and faster by working together.

“I am looking forward to meeting people from across the region, to hear their experiences and challenges, and to set out our national priorities for the future.”

Professor Johnson will join a discussion panel with East of England Cancer Alliance leads Professor Peter Hoskin, Clinical Director; Dr Peter Holloway, GP lead; Lindsey Cook, interim co-chair of the Patient Partnership Group; Amanda Pleavin, Managing Director, and Kathy Nelson, head of the Cancer Network for Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care Board.

Professor Hoskin, consultant in clinical oncology, said: ‘We welcome the opportunity to highlight our successes in cancer care and the technological advances that are transforming services for patients.

“We are working closely alongside the evolving integrated care boards to achieve true excellence and equity of care across the East of England.”

Dr Holloway, a GP in Suffolk, chairs the East of England Cancer Alliance Primary Care Group. He said: “The Cancer Summit is a great opportunity for our new integrated teams across the region to get together and share learning and successes.

“There are some exciting developments in areas like AI that are already making a difference to the patient experience and crucial early diagnosis.”

Workshops will be hosted throughout the day by expert teams from across the region, including the new Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital, Health Innovation East and NHS England Cancer Screening.

Each Integrated Care System across the region is leading a workshop to explore local challenges and innovations, including workforce and early diagnosis.

Lindsey Cook, interim co-chair of the East of England Cancer Alliance’s Patient Partnership Group, said: “We are delighted to be part of such a major event that puts patients and the experiences of local people at the heart of the agenda.

“We hope that the day will carve out some clear learning, sharing and a vision for the future so that even more people will want to get involved in making things better for all those who have a cancer diagnosis in our region, and those who support them.”

Overseeing the day will be Adam Cayley, NHS England’s chief regional operating officer for the East of England, with special responsibility for cancer services.