Category Archives: Cancer

Cancer fear and denial ‘is killing thousands’

 Delaying diagnosis can lead to poorer outcomes

By Michelle Roberts Health reporter, BBC News

 Delaying diagnosis can lead to poorer outcomes

Thousands of people in the UK are dying unnecessarily because they are too scared to mention early symptoms of cancer to their doctor, say experts.

A survey of 2,000 for Cancer Research UK suggests 40% might delay getting symptoms checked out because they are worried what the doctor might find.

Yet early diagnosis is key to treating cancer successfully.

Data suggest that if Great Britain matched Europe’s best cancer survival rate 11,500 deaths could be avoided.

Prof Peter Johnson of Cancer Research UK said: “Our report highlights just how much more we have to do to raise awareness about the early signs of cancer.

Cancer patient dies alone in hotel room after hospital sends him there to free up beds

Wife finds body when she goes to visit

 

  • Hospital routinely sends chemotherapy patients to hotel between treatments
  • Panic alarms had not been installed in hotel rooms for two years as they ‘weren’t used’

By Jenny Hope

Last updated at 2:11 AM on 25th February 2012

 

A cancer patient died alone after being sent to a hotel to recuperate from chemotherapy treatment on the NHS.

Ian Curtis, 39, died 200 yards away from University College Hospital, London, which rents out hotel rooms for patients who would otherwise stay in overnight.

It is the second death of a chemotherapy patient using the scheme since it was introduced in 2004.

‘Catastrophic infection’: Ian Curtis, 39, died in a hotel 200 yards away from University College Hospital, London, where his wife Tracy found his body

The hospital stopped installing panic alarms in rooms at the four-star Radisson Edwardian Grafton Hotel last year because patients did not use them.

Mr Curtis was overwhelmed by a sudden ‘catastrophic infection’ that prevented him making a phone call for help.

Benefits ‘cuts’ will hit cancer patients hard, say advisors

 

Until somebody becomes sick, they won’t understand what it’s like

Published on Tuesday 21 February 2012 12:00

CANCER patients face a bleak future in the face of changes being made to the benefits system, specialist welfare advisors in Leamington are warning.

Macmillan Cancer Support funds a Welfare Rights and Benefits Service at the Citizens Advice Bureau in Hamilton Terrace, where case workers Karen Jones and Jenny Harding aim to help cancer patients, their carers and those in palliative care deal with issues they may have to do with accessing funds, housing, dealing with employers and other welfare issues.