Law firm Clear Law is calling for cancer patients to receive more support after a survey from leading charity MacMillan warned that over half a million patients are being let down by a number of failings in basic care.
The charity estimates that around 512,000 cancer patients – approximately one in three of the total 1.6million people diagnosed with cancer in the last ten years – do not receive enough help.
160,000 patients are effectively being left housebound, it said, because they are unable to walk, drive or use public transport and over 100,000 aren’t receiving enough help with routine tasks like washing, dressing and going to the toilet. The lack of support currently being offered is leaving patients distressed and lonely, the report said.
The problem is partly because doctors and nurses are failing to tell patients how they can access additional help, the charity said.
Macmillan surveyed over 1,000 cancer patients and their careers in the formation of its report. One in seven participants said the lack of support they received in going to an appointment, collecting a prescription or other aspects of basic care had resulted in them needing to attend hospital as their condition quickly deteriorated.
Macmillans’ Lynda Thomas said: “It is heart-breaking that so many people with cancer are not getting the practical support and personal care they desperately need, too often living with constant feelings of fear, anger and isolation as a result. There is a growing recognition that social care is often vital for people living with long-term conditions.”
Fiona Hedges, Medical Negligence Solicitor at Clear Law said: “At Clear Law we are calling for cancer patients to receive more support as this survey highlights a number of distressing concerns that simply aren’t acceptable.”
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