I’ve had kidney cancer for 20 years, since 2001, and have had a lot of surgery, some radiotherapy, and several ‘radiofrequency ablations’. I became a patient rep by accident about 10 years ago, after I took ill-health retirement, and I’ve been ‘rattling NHS cages’ since. I want to:
- make patient-centred care a reality, especially for those with long-term conditions;
- ensure that strategic improvement and development projects are ‘co-produced’ - that they systematically include, and benefit from, the voices and experiences of patients and carers;
- turn co-production from ‘something Shahana looks after’, into a basic, default methodology.
I’m currently:
- a member of the East of England Clinical Senate Council;
- active within the East of England Cancer Alliance;
- a founding member of the Addenbrooke’s Cancer Patient Partnership Group.
In 2012, at the age of 51, I took up wheelchair basketball after seeing it at the London Paralympics. I play in two teams in the national leagues - a women’s team that I captain, and a mixed one. It’s jaw-droppingly competitive, and unbelievable fun, and I can’t say how much good it does for mental wellbeing. During Covid I’ve taken up wheelchair boxing, and doing that about four times a week appears to have added two feet to my basketball shot!