Macmillan event puts Northamptonshire cancer patients in the driving seat

The Macmillan Health and Wellbeing event, which took place last week, is run by the team at Northampton General Hospital and designed around the top concerns highlighted by local people living with cancer.

Patients said fatigue, sleep, eating well, long term effects of cancer and mindfulness were among their top concerns.

More than 70 cancer patients and carers joined the event to hear from a range of specialists from dieticians to mindfulness coaches. Feedback from the event will help to tailor existing services to meet patient needs.

Skye Bicknell, 31, worked alongside the Macmillan team to put the event together. She was diagnosed with a rare form of cervical cancer when she was just 25 and understands the impact a cancer diagnosis can have on health and wellbeing.

She said: “Cancer is the loneliest journey you can face in your life, but to then live with the life-long permanent damage afterwards, is really hard. The fatigue is like nothing you could imagine. I used to have energy like you wouldn’t believe. Now I really struggle some days. Sometimes it is physical fatigue but it is also emotional fatigue too and both together creates the most horrid cocktail. It makes it difficult to do even the simplest of things like housework and then you feel useless because it's something so simple.”

Skye continued: “I think fatigue management is a really important part of post treatment recovery and it is something that needs more attention and services to offer cancer patients. Getting your life back is such an important part of recovery and whilst life will never be the same again, it is important we are able to find our new 'normal' amongst it all.”

The event was created by Liz Summers, Macmillan Lead Cancer Nurse at Northampton General Hospital, along with members of the Macmillan team.

Liz said: “This is all about improving quality of life for people living with cancer. Any concerns that patients have identified through their eNHA (electronic holistic needs assessment) we’ve made sure they’re built into the programme. For example, one of the biggest concerns patients have is fatigue, so we’re running a fatigue workshop. Another was sleeping, so we’re doing a deep relaxation session. Eating well and mindfulness were other concerns identified. These are all things that affect people’s quality of life.”

The event is the latest in a number of initiatives by the Macmillan team at Northampton General Hospital which are putting patients in the driving seat when it comes to their local cancer services.

Liz added: “There is evidence that health and wellbeing initiatives like this can help to improve clinical outcomes. If you have patients that are able to manage fatigue and eat well, they are less likely to experience delays in chemotherapy or surgery as a result of being unfit.”

For information, support or just someone to talk to, call the Macmillan Support Line on 0808 808 00 00 or visit macmillan.org.uk