A survey by Macmillan Cancer Support has found that the NHS staffing crisis is putting cancer patients’ health at risk, with patients concerned about “over-worked” health professionals.
The survey of nearly 7,000 cancer patients found that around one in five people recently diagnosed or treated for cancer said health professionals who cared for them seemed to have “unmanageable workloads”.
The survey revealed that patients’ physical and mental health was negatively affected by current pressures on the NHS workforce. The charity warned that patients who felt health professionals were “over-worked” were around a third more likely to have unmet physical or emotional needs that were not being addressed.
The charity also reported that the Macmillan support line regularly heard from people with cancer who were concerned about staffing levels.
Full story in Nursing Times, 22 October 2019