SUSAN MORRIS
AROUND 19,000 people are told they have cancer every year in Wales.
From the very moment of diagnosis, the quality of information and support people receive will have a direct impact on their quality of life.
At Macmillan, we know that cancer impacts on every individual in widely different ways.
For many people with cancer the stresses are far wider than purely medical, and people with cancer will all have complex financial, spiritual and emotional needs or anxieties.
For example, we know that for the majority of people with cancer, money is the next biggest worry once they have come to terms with their initial diagnosis.
Macmillan Wales firmly believes that everyone affected by cancer should get the high quality, tailored information they need to make informed choices about their care and manage its wider impacts as well as is possible.
One of the most concerning things to come out the Wales Cancer Patient Experience Survey is the fact that people do not always receive the information and support they need.
We now know that an estimated 4,000 people with cancer in Wales did not completely understand the explanation of what was wrong with them.
More than a quarter of people with cancer said they did not receive easy-to-understand written information about the type of cancer they have.
More than 2,000 people are not being allocated the support of a key worker, while one in four of those who do have a key worker do not always find it easy to contact them.
Around 6,500 cancer patients in Wales (39%) feel they were not fully told about the potential future side effects of their treatment.
The survey also reveals that around one in two people with cancer are not getting the advice they need on issues like finance from hospital staff.
Every one of these gaps in information and care can have a huge impact on people’s quality of life and their rate of recovery.
If people do not feel fully informed at diagnosis, and through each stage of their treatment, it can cause additional anxiety and leave people feeling unable to cope.
That is why Macmillan Wales has launched a new guide to help patients in the future – one which has been shaped by people who have had their own cancer experience.
Our “Your Cancer Care in Wales” guide outlines the care and support people with cancer in Wales should expect, and the questions they can ask to get the support they need.
From diagnosis, right through to the end of cancer treatment, thousands of people are simply not being given access to the basic level of information or wider support that is committed to in the Welsh Government’s “Cancer Delivery Plan”.
Our new “Your Cancer Care in Wales” resource will help fill this gap.
While it is certainly no replacement for the real thing, the guide aims to be a cancer “toolkit” for people’s pockets.
It is something people with cancer can keep with them to help them understand what care they should be receiving, and what questions they can ask to help make sure they get the support they so desperately need.
Anyone who would like to find out more can download a full copy of “Your Cancer Care in Wales” from macmillan.org.uk/cancercarewales, or in Welsh from macmillan.org.uk/ gofalcansercymru.
If you have been affected by cancer and would like information and support from Macmillan, please visit www.macmillan.org.uk or call the Macmillan Support line free on 0808 808 00 00.