Our response to calls for cancer nurse funding as shortage leaves health professionals struggling to deliver vital care
Our director of Support, Research and Influencing at Pancreatic Cancer UK, Anna Jewell, responds to the call for a ring-fenced Cancer Nurse Training Fund.
Today (Wednesday 8 September) Macmillan Cancer Support released new research showing the alarming cost of ongoing cancer nursing shortages on the NHS and on cancer patient care.
Responding, Anna Jewell, Director of Support, Research and Influencing at Pancreatic Cancer UK, said:
“We wholeheartedly support the call for a ring-fenced Cancer Nurse Training Fund made today by Macmillan Cancer Support. Nurses provide absolutely essential care and support both to people with pancreatic cancer and their family and friends, providing vital guidance to patients around managing their symptoms, helping to alleviate feelings of helplessness and isolation, as well as uncertainty about how best to help their loved one.
“Yet we are very concerned about the ongoing shortage of cancer nurses across the NHS and urge the government to heed this call for investment. Everyone affected by pancreatic cancer deserves to receive a high standard of supportive care at what can be the most difficult of times.”
Pancreatic Cancer UK runs the only dedicated Support Line in the UK for people with pancreatic and their friends and family. This confidential service is staffed entirely by pancreatic cancer specialist nurses, who are here to provide support, guidance and a listening ear to everyone affected by the disease when they need us most.
You can call our Support Line for free on 0808 801 0707, or contact a nurse via email. The Support Line is open Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays between 9am and 4pm, with lines open 10am to 6pm on Wednesdays.