Cancer victims facing stigma and stress on return to work
ONE in five Scots who return to work after having cancer diagnosed face discrimination from colleagues and employers, research reveals.
An estimated 1,800 people who are told they have the disease each year will face ‘appalling’ added pressures in their job, figures from Macmillan Cancer Support and YouGov show.
After getting cancer, 23 per cent of Scots give up work altogether. But the survey found those who choose to stay on face a wide range of challenges.
One in four (24 per cent) returned to work before they felt ready to do so.
More than a third (35 per cent) of those who went back to their jobs had negative experiences when they did so – such as feeling guilty for taking time off for medical appointments and loss of confidence in their abilities.
People also said they experienced added stress, a feeling of stigmatisation, and salary reductions.
Jim McKay, 39, from Edinburgh, was a manager in a publishing company when told he had neuroendocrine tumours, a rare form of cancer, last year.
After time off for a major operation, he returned to work fulltime – but within a few months was finding it hard to cope.
He said: ‘I struggled with my energy levels and couldn’t always work 9 to 5. I was trying to continue as normal but was becoming completely exhausted.
‘I never spoke to an occupational therapist or member of HR. The only communication I had from HR was a letter telling me the date they would put me on Statutory Sick Pay.’
Mr McKay’s partner, Johanna Boyd, saw a leaflet about the Macmillan Work Service run by NHS Lothian and was put in touch with a support worker, who put together an action plan to manage the gap in needs between Mr McKay and his employer. Since then, he has changed jobs and now works for the Law Society.
Mr McKay said: ‘I speak with HR and my line manager regu- larly about my health problems and they are both supportive and accommodating.’
The study found that 85 per cent of cancer sufferers said that continuing work was important for them. Sixty per cent said this was because it allowed them to a ‘sense of normality’, while half said they needed the money and 45 per cent said they enjoyed their job.
Macmillan estimates that, of the average 31,771 people who receive a cancer diagnosis in Scotland each year, 11,755 will be in employment. Of those, about 9,757 will return to work.
With improvements in survival rates, and the fact employees are retiring later, the number of people of working age with cancer in the UK is expected to reach 1.7million by 2036.
Macmillan is calling on employers to offer better support to employees with the disease.
Janice Preston, head of Macmillan Services for Scotland, said: ‘As well as helping them manage financially, we know it helps people feel more in control of their lives again.
‘It is therefore appalling that, in too many cases, help to stay in employment is not always offered to people living with cancer who want to work and are able to do so.
‘During what is already a stressful and difficult time, they should be able to rely on the full support of their employer.’
In 2014, there were 33,005 new diagnoses of all cancers, in patients of all ages, in Scotland.
In 2015 16,011 people died of the disease, according to NHS National Services Scotland.
The mortality rate for cancer sufferers fell by more than 10 per cent from 2005 to 2015, while the incidence rate rose 0.6 per cent from 2004 to 2014.
‘Finding it hard to cope’