Our information and support services impact

High percentages of people using our support line feel better able to manage their health and wellbeing (94%) and feel less alone (90%).

In 2023, we were awarded the PIF TICK from the Patient Information Forum – the only independently assessed quality mark for print and digital health information.

Orders of our free printed publications dropped during the pandemic as many medical appointments became virtual. This year, they’ve risen to 47,688 items, reaching pre-pandemic levels. Online, our health information webpages saw a huge 1,745,239 views.

As well as answering 2,314 phone calls and emails and 2,233 social and forum posts over the year, we saw a 47% increase in our online community membership. We recruited and trained five new forum volunteers to scale up support and meet demand.

We grew our Nurses Network to a membership of more than 1,000. And our e-learning course to increase understanding and awareness among new starters in haemato-oncology care has seen 738 professionals enrol.

Our Healthcare Professional Advisory Panel has met four times this year, feeding into our Blood Cancer Action Plan, service transformation plans, research strategy, and health information products.

We conducted searches for 158 people this year who want to take part in clinical trials, guiding them through the whole process. Supporting more referrals than ever before, we’ve now seen 48% of those people either enrolled in a trial or going through a screening process.

Plus, thanks to a new service we piloted last year, we can keep in touch with people interested in clinical trials, so they don’t miss future opportunities.

To help us reach out to the 41,000 people newly diagnosed each year, our transformation plan has two main parts: a referral mechanism, where hospital staff can point patients directly to our support when they’re diagnosed; and a supportive, helpful welcome journey for people who then get in touch.

In 2023-2024 we piloted the referral mechanism in two hospitals: County Stafford and Royal Stoke. We had 10 referrals in the first two weeks, and this number is continuing to grow.

We launched our email journey for newly diagnosed people in May 2023, with more than 1,000 people signing up within six months to get essential information in the first few weeks after diagnosis.

Our 2023-2024 Annual Report at a glance