On the 21st of October, the OUTpatients team travelled to Leatherhead for Pfizer’s Patient Organisation Takeover. Along with several other charities advocating on behalf of diverse patients, we set up stalls in Pfizer’s headquarters, striking up conversations and sharing our work with employees across the company. 

This was an opportunity for us to speak with a range of teams at Pfizer, and raise the profile of our organisation with people we may not have otherwise come across us. As well as bringing patient voices directly into the heart of the Pfizer headquarters, we were able to connect with other patient organisations, share upcoming work, and find opportunities to collaborate.

Earlier this year, we also ran our ‘Hear Me Out’ campaign with Pfizer as a partner. The campaign encourages healthcare professionals to see the whole person behind a cancer diagnosis, including their gender and sexuality, and to feel comfortable bringing LGBTIQ+ topics into the consulting room. It was really rewarding to be able to share the end results, and the success of the campaign, with so many Pfizer colleagues in-person.

In the afternoon, we heard from our friends at National Voices, who took us through a workshop on using patient experience data to drive policy change. The insights were invaluable: gender identity and sexuality are not routinely collected on people’s patient records, so we rely heavily on patient experience data to drive our work. Being able to discuss practical examples of how to use different types of data with other organisations was extremely helpful, and will allow us to push even harder for equity in cancer care.

Thank you to Pfizer for hosting the day, and to National Voices for sharing their expertise. We hope to see everyone again next year!