Janice Preston: Cancer patients need more than just treatment

Alan Rickman is one of the celebrities who recently died of cancer. More people are diagnosed with the disease every year. Picture: John Devlin

The number of survivors is increasing, writes Janice Preston, and they need help with every aspect of life

The recent deaths of celebrities Sir Terry Wogan, David Bowie and Alan Rickman from cancer have put the risks of dying from the disease very much in the spotlight.

However, even though more people are being diagnosed with cancer every year, the number of those surviving the disease is also increasing.

This leads to a different set of problems and despite best efforts by the professionals involved, pressures in the current cancer care system mean it often can’t provide the support patients need to cope or recover.

In Scotland, there are currently around 220,000 people living with cancer. This number is expected to rise to 360,000 by 2030.

While it used to be thought of as a death sentence, now only around half of those diagnosed with cancer in Scotland will die – and they may have many months or even years before they do so.

Unfortunately though, many of those living with cancer will be coping with the long term impacts of the disease – ranging from the physical and emotional to the financial and practical – that can last long after treatment ends.

And too often they won’t be offered the help they need to deal with these problems, leaving them to struggle on alone.

A Macmillan study in 2013 found 80 per cent of Scots cancer patients were £420 worse off after diagnosis. Another study in 2014 discovered a third of Scots with cancer were lonelier after diagnosis and 76 per cent struggled with practical issues such as washing themselves or leaving the house.

There is still a perception among many that helping people with cancer is about early detection and better treatments. While these issues are undoubtedly important, treating someone with cancer shouldn’t just be about treating the illness. Often it is after treatment ends that the full extent of the problems cancer has caused becomes apparent.