Sophie Fairall campaign: Dame Caroline Dinenage MP for Gosport continues fight to improve the support received by children with cancer

Dame Caroline Dinenage, Member of Parliament for Gosport and former Minister met with Claire Coutinho MP, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Children, Families & Wellbeing at the Department of Education to urge the minister to improve educational support for children and young people undergoing treatment for, or recovering from, cancer.

In the meeting, Ms Dinenage asked the minister for changes to be made to local authority guidelines when considering education, health and care plans, and for a report to be published by the Department of Education to assess the long-term impact of a cancer diagnosis on educational outcomes.

This meeting is just one of the measures that has been taken as part of the Childhood Cancer Mission which was set up by the MP and a local constituent, Charlotte Fairall whose daughter, Sophie, died aged 10 from Rhabdomyosarcoma.

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Charlotte has been campaigning since Sophie’s death in 2021 in a bid to improve the treatment, support, facilities and education that children receive when they have cancer.

Ms Dinenage said: ‘4,500 children are diagnosed with cancer every year, and even if their treatment is a success, this can cause significant disruption to their education and long-term attainment due to absences and the impact of treatment.

‘Provision of EHCPs can help to improve educational outcomes for children with cancer. I have asked the minister to report on the impact of cancer on children’s educational outcomes, and to consider amending local authority guidance on providing EHCPs. Really pleased to see the minister engage on this important subject.’

The MP has also met the national bone and soft tissue cancer charity Sarcoma UK, where she discussed the work that the charity is doing to help children, teenagers and young adults diagnosed with sarcoma.

She said: ‘Improving the way in which we detect, care and treat childhood cancers is something that I have been working hard on with local charity Sophie’s Legacy. This was founded after the tragic death of my 10-year-old constituent, Sophie, from childhood cancer.’