Cancer bells ‘are a kick in the teeth’ for dying

THE NHS should scrap bell-ringing ceremonies that signal the end of cancer treatment, says a patient battling the disease.

In cancer wards, hospitals and clinics, when a patient has completed radiotherapy or chemotherapy, they are often encouraged to ring a bell to show they have ‘beaten’ the disease.

The ceremonies, which began in the US in the 1990s and were introduced to the UK in 2013, now feature at more than 250 hospitals.

They are such a symbol of beating cancer that the charity Children with Cancer UK has a child ringing a bell on its logo.

But Jo Taylor, founder of campaign group After Breast Cancer Diagnosis, has called for the ‘brash’ bells to be scrapped. The mother of two, 50, has undergone 88 rounds of treatment since being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007.

Writing in the British Medical Journal, Mrs Taylor, of Diggle, near Oldham, said: ‘For those of us living with recurrent cancer who have little prospect of being cured, hearing this bell being rung is like a kick in the teeth.

‘Living with recurrent breast cancer is hard. It feels as if the disease has one aim – it wants to kill the person it’s growing in. For those who are

‘It reminds me of my own mortality’

shouldering this burden, it’s important that we avoid adding to it.

‘I am sure that I am not the only person who has heard the end-of-treatment bell and left the unit in despair, weeping on the way home from treatment which we know will not cure us.

‘People think it’s an encouraging thing to have a bell. I disagree, I think it’s divisive and cruel. For me, it just reminds me of my own mortality and that I will never get to ring it because I will never finish treatment.’

Mrs Taylor, who has a life expectancy of two to three years, points out that as many as 30 per cent of patients who ring the bell when they finish treatment for primary stage breast cancer will, like her, develop secondary cancer.

A study of whether the bells are helpful or harmful has been carried out by Dr Patrick Williams, from the University of Southern California.

He said: ‘We found that the bell worsens patients’ memories of treatment... Ringing a bell on the final day of cancer treatment may be an example of a bad practice with good intentions.’

But a spokesman for charity Children with Cancer UK said: ‘Many of the families we support view them as a symbol of hope and strength. Ringing the bell marks the end of what is often a long period of cancer treatment.’