A Border of Life and Death

The Health Minister says a dedicated fund

to pay for cancer treatments

won't be introduced in Wales.

It is a scheme which is neither ethical,

lacks clinical support

and would deliver a lesser service to cancer patients in Wales.

When Offa's Dyke becomes the line

between life and death,

we are witnessing a national scandal.

Let's hear from Annie Mulholland.

Annie Mulholland is living with terminal ovarian cancer.

Annie Mulholland couldn't get Avastin on the NHS.

Joining us now is Annie Mulholland.

For nearly five years, I've been in the middle of a controversy

over cancer care in Wales.

I am Annie Mulholland,

I have terminal ovarian cancer and,

when my Welsh health board denied me the drug I needed

and blocked access to clinical trials,

I decided to campaign for fairer treatment.

Like hundreds of others in Wales,

I had to go to England to get the drug.

Now, after treatment in a London hospital,

I'm still going strong,

living more years than anyone expected.

But I don't have long left,

so this is the story of my campaign

for fairer care for cancer patients in Wales.

Before I die, I'd like to see

the end to the border between England and Wales

being a matter of life and death.

I live in Cardiff, I'm 62

and I was diagnosed with terminal ovarian cancer in 2011 -

so I had to retire from my job in education to undergo the treatment.

I had surgery, chemotherapy,

and I assumed I was having the best possible care -

then I found out I was being denied a drug I needed.

It was being given to other women in Wales through other health boards

on a case-by-case basis

and it was guaranteed to all women who needed it in England,

as it was on the Cancer Drug Fund List.

When I started running a support group for ovarian cancer

and I ended chatting to women

from different health boards around this area,

and we were comparing what we were told

and what we were having,

and then I became aware of a drug called Avastin.

When I heard about it, I assumed,

"Well, I just can't be medically suited to it,

"otherwise somebody would have mentioned it."

And I did a little bit of research into it

and it did occur to me that...

I was medically suited to this drug, but it hadn't been mentioned and,

when I brought it up with my oncologist,

it became clear, over a little while,

that it hadn't been mentioned to me because,

at that time,

Cardiff and Vale National Health Board had never funded it.

It does seem hugely discriminatory

and, obviously, I was incredibly upset.

But I said to my consultant

in the very same meeting,

"Can you tell me what I can have if I didn't live in Cardiff?"

And she refused to be drawn on that one.

I said, "At this moment, I don't live in Cardiff."

So, she looked rather confused and said, "Where do you live?"

I said, "I don't know yet, but I'll find out where I'm going to live."

Because I just was not prepared to live in Cardiff,

in Wales' capital city,

and to be denied a drug that other women could have.

I was never told in Wales why I couldn't have Avastin

or why I couldn't go on a clinical trial and get it that way.

So, I had no choice.

If I wanted to live, I had to switch my treatment to England

where the drug was instantly available.

We're quite some way from Wales.

We're in London, in Chelsea.

This will be the first one

of my third line of chemotherapy for ovarian cancer.

I am afraid my hair's going to fall out in approximately 28 days.

It comes out big time.

I shall be in a chemo chair

for about six or seven hours.

I shall be well amused because I've got my art kit,

so I'm going to do a bit of drawing today - keep myself amused.

As I promised, I've had my chemotherapy

and my hair's fallen out.

Not all of it, I still have a little bit of the baby fluff there.

And I knew I had to go like that.

I'm married -

I've been married for five years to Martin -

and, between us, we have five daughters,

we have three granddaughters

and two grandsons.

I received a phone call to confirm that,

yes, it was ovarian cancer

and they absolutely couldn't operate and take it out.

The news that they were told was

we had 12 to 18 months at best

and I think, at that time,

the family just went into, sort of, blind panic.

Everyone is coping with things in their own different ways

and sometimes that's quite hard to pull together.

For Mum, obviously facing the news of her own death was very traumatic.

But for her daughters and her granddaughters,

the news that they might not...

Mum might not be there for them in the future

was particularly hard for us all to come to terms with.

We prepared the girls.

They're aware that I've been ill for a few years.

I explained to them that I'm going to have such strong medicine

that it will make my hair fall out if it's successful.

So, the first time they opened my front door and they saw me,

they looked a bit horrified at first,

and then I was laughing and I said, "There, the medicine's working."

And everyone was really happy.

They're very happy about it too.

They did say to me, "Well, are you going to go out like that, Granny?"

And I said, "Well, yeah, I think I will, because this is me.

"I don't want to hide it with a wig or anything,

"I'd rather be myself."

They stroke my hair because they say it's like suede.

Cos the new hair's beginning to grow through

and it's rather soft and sweet.

SHE GIGGLES

In the last three-and-a-half years,

we've taken the opportunity

to do as many things as possible as a family -

from taking Mum skiing in France

to organising my wedding,

to organising her own wedding to Martin.

We have done so much as a family

and the time that we have has been precious.

We've known that we have the opportunity to make this good

and it has brought us hugely closer together as a family.

The Welsh Government says it won't run a cancer fund

because it's ineffective -

claiming not all the drugs work -

and unethical, favouring cancer patient over others

with life-threatening illnesses.

I sympathise with that,

but I feel it's unfair that I have to cross into England

and access the Cancer Drug Fund there

to get the treatment I need to live.

And it's available to other women.

As I questioned and protested about this discrimination,

I soon found myself running a campaign.

It's centred around my blog, 'One Voice for Wales'.

And one of the big things I campaign about

is for more patient involvement.

So, I've just decided to stage a unique event -

a patient voices conference

where politicians come and listen to us.

Well, the elections are coming up

next May in Wales and, of course,

NHS and cancer services in Wales

are going to be a huge vote issue.

And we thought it was important, before the elections,

to make sure AMs know what patients are thinking.

It's going to be a pretty big event, probably,

and I think it might be the first of its kind in the United Kingdom.

I've not heard of another patient event set up like this.

Being diagnosed with ovarian cancer is... It's a devastating moment.

To see somebody going through all of the treatments,

fighting for those treatments

and yet still have time to support other women,

to campaign for better access to diagnosis and treatments,

this is quite extraordinary.

And I have never, ever heard Annie complain.

If I'm on treatment, I go to London most weeks.

I used to get the bus because it was much cheaper but, these days,

I get tired and so the train is easier, if much more expensive.

The good bit about the train is I can work on my campaign

and interest in my patients' voices day

has really taken off in recent weeks.

Patients from all over Wales are enthusiastic about it

and charities have been a huge support.

At the moment, I'm expecting about 30 cancer charities

and about 40 patients.

In the good weather, I try to cycle when I get to London

but, if I'm tired, I can get the bus or tube, or walk -

and, if I feel really bad,

I can treat myself to a taxi.

I am now 150 miles from my real home,

but I've been registered here with local doctors

for the English Health Service.

Well, this is my main NHS address.

It's in Brixton, in London.

In fact, it's my daughter's home

and I'm pretty lucky to have a daughter in London

where I have an access to a greater range of treatments -

and particularly, to clinical trials,

which is what I want as a patient with incurable cancer.

Tomorrow, busy day tomorrow.

I shall be leaving here at about 7:30am,

rushing down to the Marsden

and then I've been asked to go to the Chelsea and Westminster

to give a talk to fifth year medical students.

They want to meet a woman with ovarian cancer

and share my experiences.

So, then I rush back to Marsden and I see my oncologist.

I just hope I've got time for it all.

I'm just recording this from the Royal Marsden but,

here I am in the chemo ward and,

as you can see just here, there is a chemo pump.

I have approximately about 40 minutes left of this chemotherapy

and then I have a little rest,

and then I have another bit of chemotherapy later on.

SIRENS WAIL

So, a couple of tips...

from me, anyway.

As you meet your patient,

please give your given name, your surname.

Don't call yourself Doctor.

It just feels patronising.

At first, I think we slightly dismissed the thought

that there could be such huge inequalities

between the health system in Wales

and the health system, here, in England.

And I think, in some ways,

we were sort of thinking this was Mum's, perhaps, strategy of coping

as she was finding a way to survive.

But, as she began to present the facts and figures, and the research

and really, sort of, backing this up by people she'd spoke to,

and particularly in the professional charities

that support cancer -

I think it began to dawn on me

that the outcomes for people in Wales were so diminished.

There was really no other choice

but to, of course, welcome her here

and say, "Come and have this care.

"Come and stay with us in London."

Is that sizeable? Is that the size of a chunk you want?

Yeah, that's fine. Just put them in a pan.

'I'm by no means the only Welsh exile.

'According to the hospitals that I've been to,

'there are an awful lot of patients from Wales'

who have addresses in London

to access the centres of excellence here.

It's quite common, as I understand.

And I do have a personal friend,

a lady called Mary Funke Burrows,

who would have been known in Wales quite well

because she's the former chief executive

of Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board Trust,

and she has moved to London

to be with her son

to access treatment that she couldn't have in Wales.

The former head of a Welsh health board has moved to England

so she can get a cancer drug she wouldn't be eligible here for.

Mary Burrows, who ran the Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board,

told BBC Wales there needs to be a public debate

about how we fund new treatments.

There needs to be a debate about, across all the UK,

about how we fund these treatments.

It's not just cancer treatments,

it's all the advanced technology and surgeries that are coming through

that people will want to access

and there's a price that comes with that.

The former head of a Welsh health board

who moved to England access cancer treatment has died.

Mary Burrows, who was chief executive...

I'm here in my London home

about to go to a funeral today

of a very good friend, Mary,

who died a couple of weeks ago

from metastatic breast cancer.

We had so much in common, really,

with moving to London, and we were both at the Royal Marsden.

Well, the last time I saw Mary,

she was just about to go for the appointment

that she suspected was going to be the one that said

she could have no more treatment.

She was the most extraordinary woman.

She, sort of, took things in her stride

but I think, at that moment,

the day before that appointment,

she had the fear that all of us have

that there was nothing more that could be done for her.

I do know people are coming down from Bangor, this morning,

to get to the funeral,

which I think is... It must be very heartening for the family.

It's always a very different thing

when you're faced with people's families

and see their grief, because it's all too raw for me.

I do think you can plan for a good death.

Doctors don't want to talk about it, they want to save you,

but part of my campaign is calling for palliative care

to be introduced sooner.

Apparently, Britain is the best in the world

for palliative care -

and Wales, the best in Britain -

but oncologists could liaise earlier with the palliative team

so there's a smooth, interactive handover.

I'd been thinking about end of life plans for a few months

before being asked to give this talk and I had been...

'Today, I'm giving a talk about the patient view

'of improving palliative care to the Royal College of Nursing in Wales.

'Sharing a platform with the world authority on the subject,

'Baroness Finlay of Llandaff.'

I think the most important question for patients is

whether there's, like, an integrated approach

between palliative care and our oncology service.

I think - here in Wales,

and here in Felindre -

we've achieved that,

because the palliative care team

is based in the cancer centre and

works in a completely integrated way.

So, if a patient needs to be seen,

anybody can say that patient needs to be seen.

You're not waiting for a consultant or a consultant referral.

That is unique. Not...

In the rest of the UK,

people are waiting to be referred. Yeah.

So, we are more fast-track than elsewhere.

The problem is, of course, capacity.

The system the Welsh Government uses for all medical conditions,

not just cancer,

to fund drugs and treatment not routinely available

is through the IPFR -

the Individual Patient Funding Request.

Each patient's application is assessed individually

by a panel under set guidelines,

and health boards have to balance these appeals

against the needs of the majority,

the effectiveness of the treatment

and the resources available.

To succeed, patients have to prove

exceptional clinical circumstances.

So, inevitably, decisions vary

between individuals,

between health boards.

A drug granted in one area of Wales

but not another.

Well, it comes back to what is and isn't exceptional

and this is, sometimes, a difficult question to deal with

because it's something about the condition you have

and whether the treatment will have an exceptional benefit

for the individual there.

Now, we've looked again at the IPFR process of and for itself and...

we had an expert review undertaken,

relatively recently,

and it made a series of recommendations,

all of which the Minister accepted.

And it examined the question of consistency, so we put some extra

resource into the Wales toxicology and treatment centre.

And that will now be looking at a range of conditions

where health boards make different decisions on apparently

the same treatment and the same condition, because that's

not just difficult to defend, and I wouldn't try to defend that,

what we need to do is to have a process to get a consistent

decision made across Wales, so if you're in one health board area

you don't get a different decision to if you lived in another.

And there's a challenge there about then having a national approach.

You can say actually, there should be a normalised approach,

for this particular indication.

Well, the Welsh government will say that, yes,

where a patient is exceptional, they will give them the cancer drug

if they qualify, but the only thing is that,

with a group of patients all with the same cancer,

with the same presentation of the disease, who would all

equally well benefit from the drug, we are clearly not exceptional.

Well, I'm outside the Houses of Parliament

and I'm here to give a paper to the

all-party political group for ovarian cancer

about access to drugs in Wales.

The Welsh government have never really been clear exactly

how much they're actually spending on cancer drugs,

and I think there is an issue here, and really,

it's only by coming to Westminster that you really do find out

what Wales has and how that compares with other people in other

areas of the United Kingdom.

There'll be a member of the House of Lords

there'll be a number of MPs there,

and all the charities that represent women with ovarian cancer

will be there as well as quite a large group of women with cancer

who are interested in this topic.

These have become quite old pals.

There's usually a party beforehand near Westminster Abbey

and then we meet for dinner afterwards

so, yeah, there's a little group of us,

we call ourselves the Old Ovarians!

We meet up, have a couple of glasses of wine and dinner.

We know that survival rates in Wales for ovarian cancer

are behind survival rates in England

and I say that, but also want to emphasise that, across the UK,

we have the worst survival rates in Europe,

so nobody is doing well, in terms of the UK nations, in ovarian cancer

but Wales does less well.

And there is a huge issue around late diagnosis.

There is an issue around access to clinical trials in Wales.

And there is, of course, the issue around access to cancer drugs.

And in ovarian cancer, we have seen very little progress

in survival rates and treatment options over the past 20 years.

So it's of desperate concern when there is a life-extending

treatment available that women in Wales cannot access that treatment.

I believe that the survival rates for ovarian cancer

are quite low in Wales compared to the rest of the UK.

I wondered why you think that is and what should be done about that.

Well, we first focus on improving outcomes for cancer patients

on every particular cancer.

We know that there are particular challenges in different

tumour sizes and different forms of cancer.

It's difficult to put your finger on one particular part of it.

So we will focus on the whole pathway.

So, what's the point about presentation

and the recognition of symptoms, so people are referred appropriately?

What's then the point about...

Once that referral is done, appropriate diagnostic tests

and how quickly those are available?

And then, if there is a diagnosis of cancer,

the treatment options after that.

So it's looking at the whole path of it.

So it's difficult to say that there is only one

part of that that we need to focus on and, you know, in this,

we're not being led by politicians determining how to do this,

apart from the vision and the strategy

and the overall ambition,

if you like, to ensure that we improve survival rates

and outcomes for cancer patients is being led by clinicians themselves.

And that's one of the most encouraging things, I think,

is we've got a proper reliance on a network of clinicians

who are working together,

who have real ambition, who recognise that, in Wales,

for all the improvements we've made

and we should be proud of, we still have a great deal more to go.

So there's no sense of complacency at all.

One way of surviving longer is to get on a clinical trial.

It ensures you get the latest treatment.

Today I'm at the Welsh Assembly

for the cross-party group meeting on cancer.

I come here regularly to get involved in the issues,

present my argument to the Welsh government

and talk to clinicians, politicians and civil servants.

Today, we're discussing the launch of a new cancer research centre.

I want to ask why Welsh patients are being denied access

to clinical trials in England which could help them survive longer.

We need to stop people smoking.

We need to stop people consuming excess alcohol.

We need to stop people having an unhealthy diet,

all those things which we know contribute to cancer.

Well, my question is, is there anything you can do to,

whilst you must encourage your patients to go on your clinical

trials in Wales, is there any way that we can ensure that Wales

has fair access to clinical trials outside if patients are willing

and able and would benefit from access to that trial?

The answer to your question is yes, there are things we can do.

What we don't want is a situation where only the patients

who are happy to live close to the centres where those

trials are happening should be the ones who can get it.

We want it to be broader than that.

So what we're trying to do is form a network whereby

all the centres around the country have all the information.

For some patients and some treatments,

close to home isn't possible, either because the patient's

condition is rare or the drug isn't widely available.

My experience is patients are happy to travel

when they need to and so we need to make things available to them.

We want every patient to come into the clinic and say,

"Do you have a trial for me?"

Women are prepared to travel if they are able to,

to participate in clinical trials.

I haven't seen the evidence that the Welsh Assembly government

has for having cancer care on every corner

and, clearly, we would like to see services close to us,

but, actually, particularly with less common cancers,

what you really need to have

is access to the best possible specialist care.

I was expecting to go for my last, final appointment

to go into the clinical trial

and, sadly, we found out that the cancer was on the return,

so I am not able to go on my trial.

I think everything goes through your mind,

like you can miss your family and your husband and all the tragedy

that is ahead,

I think you think very negatively, but hopefully,

over the course of 24 hours, chatting to my husband,

he joined me in London, and we, we kind of struggled our way through.

One of the first things that you do think about is how they're

going to miss you and that sort of thing, so yeah, yeah.

And my very next thought was,

what am I going to do about my patient day on February 2nd?

Am I actually going to be able to get to it?

So I quickly wrote down a few notes to myself

because I need to make some plans so that,

should I not be able to make it,

someone would actually delegate for me,

and it's going to go ahead and it's going to be good.

But now I almost feel it's all handover,

it's the last thing I can do.

And yeah, yeah, it's something for me to think of.

This morning I'm flying up to North Wales to meet for the first

time another campaigner, Irfon Williams,

and invite him to my Patient Voices day.

Hopefully he'll continue to fight after me.

Surprisingly, the plane's a plush six-seater

that's used by celebrities.

It seems very extravagant, but it's incredibly cheap,

much less than the car, thanks to the Welsh government's subsidies.

Irfon Williams lives in Bangor.

He is a former Welsh Nurse of the Year

and was diagnosed with bowel cancer.

He applied four times for funding for a drug which experts said could

help him, but was refused each time.

I and others advised Irfon to get an English address, and he did.

And then he got the drug at a Manchester hospital,

and it worked, shrinking the tumours so he could have surgery.

Hello! Hi!

ANNIE LAUGHS

Meet you at last in person!

To be denied payment from the Welsh government for the drug that I

required, but also to have to travel to England to pursue that drug,

I found that process the most stressful of all,

almost feeling as if we were second class citizens,

begging for funding, begging to be treated.

And having the same message come back, time and time again,

no, this drug is not going to be funded by this health board.

And the reasons given were actually, eventually, financial.

And to be left during those periods,

because there were four applications, and each time between,

your mind would play, you would go through it, you'd be thinking,

"They can't deny him, how can they deny him?

"He's got all the genetic tests to show that he'd respond to this drug.

"He's a young man, he's got a young family, he's got so much to give."

To be told regularly that I was unlikely to respond

to this medication whereas, in fact,

I had experts in England specifying that, actually,

there was a high chance that I would be able to respond well.

And then scans at the end of the treatment showed

a 60% reduction in the tumours both in my liver and bowel.

And that's a big percentage. It is. It's huge.

And as a result, the surgeons in the specialist centre in Liverpool

were happy to offer to operate, and they removed all my tumours.

And 2? months on, I am in remission. Which is great news.

That is fantastic news!

Erm, I think there needs to be some decision that...

..when we're dealing with people's lives, it's above politics,

and there needs to be

some cross-party support and agreement that

when we're dealing with treatment for cancer or any other

condition, where there is a requirement for specialist treatment

then there should be some guidelines, clear guidelines.

There have been times when I've doubted

whether I should've gone so public

and whether we should have complained or

whether I should have just gone quietly and had my treatment.

However, the amount of people that have been made aware now

of the situation, and they are starting to question

medics, locally, it is incredible.

I've brought the flyers for the day in February.

We've mentioned it on the phone.

And the invitation, if you are well enough.

I think the good thing about this is, actually, that the

patients actually have a voice, and it's about time people

started listening to the patients' voice.

It was incredible to come up to North Wales

and to get to chat to them

and actually find out

we just had the same experiences in North and South Wales.

Particularly, he mentioned the lack of transparency that needs to be

addressed and the need to empower patients to be asking the questions.

I think the game of this disease is not to think too emotionally

about things. Yes, it could be my last Christmas,

but I live for the day, and I try not to let that affect

how I enjoy the Christmas.

THEY LAUGH

My health still took a bit of a bashing on Christmas week

in that I suddenly developed a sore leg,

so we had to spend a day in A

and I flew off to Rome on Boxing Day.

At the moment I am not very keen on having any more treatment because,

as you can see, my hair's only just starting to grow after the last lot.

I'm only just recovering.

And after the last lot of treatment didn't work at all,

I'm not so sure it's a good idea to have any more.

Rebecca from Target Ovarian Cancer and I have come round

to check out the Pierhead Building

because I've never organised anything like this.

I've never organised anything like this.

We've got 27, 28 charities coming with their stands.

We've got patients, we've got Assembly Members, we've got

people from the NHS, so we need to make sure that we've got

room for everyone, the catering's sorted out,

meeting and greeting.

This is a really great space.

I hadn't realised when I started organising something,

but this is actually for the people of Wales to have their say

to the Welsh Assembly office, which is just there.

They'll take photos of members of you there

and that's your panel.

So the real focus of this event is a question and answer session

for patients to ask each of the health spokesmen -

what will their party do for cancer services in Wales

if they get in?

And so we've got four party spokesmen from the main parties.

We've got the NHS to come in,

we've got patient experience managers coming,

we have the clinical doctor of the Velindre

and then we have about nearly 40 patients

and other interested people, so it's quite a mix of people.

Today, suddenly, everything's falling into place.

Good morning Wales, it's seven o'clock on Tuesday 2nd February.

This is Peter Johnson and Oliver Hides.

Good morning. Our top stories this morning...

Well, early start this morning. Up at five and getting ready

for the Voices event which starts at half past ten this morning.

So I'm sort of hanging around

waiting for BBC Wales radio to ring me to do a bit of a radio interview

to tell people in Wales what the event's about.

PHONE RINGS

And there's the phone, probably.

Hello, Annie speaking.

Well, today, cancer patients from across Wales join together to

make their voices heard at the Senedd.

The event's been organised by Annie Mulholland.

She's on the line now. Morning, Annie. Good morning.

Now, tell me, Annie, first of all, what are you hoping to do today?

What's this about?

I think what cancer patients want more than anything

is that we all want to be treated fairly.

And we don't want to feel in Wales that we have more than anyone

else, but equally, we don't want other people in other

parts of the UK to have more than us, either.

Well, I'm having to keep my legs up now

because I've got what's called lymphoedema,

so I've got one enormous leg and one normal leg here.

And the only thing we can do to try

and manage it at the moment is to keep my leg up.

But unfortunately, I've sort of embarked on doing this event today,

so I won't be having my leg up as much as I should.

I've got some morphine I take morning and afternoon

and I can take another squirt.

If the pain gets too bad I can take a little extra

and that's quite necessary for a day like today.

Oh, Annie is absolutely a star.

She's pulled this all together herself, basically.

And without her, this would not be happening.

Annie's amazing.

She's an absolute inspiration,

the way she's driven forward the interests of patients in Wales.

It's absolutely fantastic.

For Annie to get so many charities in the same room,

that's a triumph in itself.

And to get so many like-minded people,

that's a huge fillip to us as cancer patients, you see.

Well, I've just come in from outside doing a TV clip

and I'm slightly overawed there's so many people here.

And people are coming up and saying hello.

Yeah, have you got a Kleenex?!

THEY LAUGH

I had great hopes for today.

From a personal experience, I need to hand over.

There have been some incredibly knowledgeable

and active campaigners in Wales, but their campaigns died when they die.

I'd like to think this event builds on the shared experience

of all the patients in the room today and all the stakeholders

and that an event of this nature might continue as a legacy

to achieve greater patient participation

and engagement in the future of the NHS in Wales.

Yes, I think campaigning does work.

The drug that I received in England, obviously, Cetuximab,

is now available in Wales for cancer patients with bowel cancer.

The first question is going to be to Ann Whelan.

Waiting lists for CT scans are growing.

What will your party do about this?

Could they not look at a way forward to develop patient input?

Us, as patients, would benefit from England and Wales

having the same drugs, so that we aren't

put into the dilemma of having to move over the border.

There was engagement from all the stakeholders,

the Assembly Members, the NHS, the third sector, the patients.

And there's a will to go forward.

You did brilliantly. Mmm! You must be pleased. Are you pleased?

I'm feeling a bit overawed at the moment.

We've never had this in Wales, ever.

I've been to so many things.

We've never had this in Wales.

It couldn't have been done without a lot of people,

but most particularly my family.

And Hannah, in fact, was up to I don't know what time last night

making those conference packs.

Becky was such a talented MC.

'I'm really pleased the Health Minister, Marc Drakeford, came.

'It was a great endorsement.

'I met him three years ago to discuss ovarian cancer

'and asked for an ovarian cancer public awareness campaign in Wales.

'Now I've been told it's going to happen this year,

'which is wonderful news.

'I hope this isn't just a one-off concession to one campaigner.

'All I've shown is that patients can contribute constructively to

'improving health services in Wales for all.

'I would still advise Welsh patients to go to England

'to get treatment that will prolong their lives

'if it is the only option available to them.

'But they won't need to go if, together,

'we can eradicate the unfairness in the system.

'I've come to the end of my treatment

'and there are very few options left.

'So, if I've helped move Wales forward towards fairer health care

'then something good will have come out of dying with cancer.'

Oh, it's sunny! I know!