Celebrating North West Teenage Cancer Trust Nurses

Teenage Cancer Trust

On European Cancer Nursing Day (Friday 18 May 2018) Teenage Cancer Trust will be thanking its nurses in the North West, and highlighting the importance of specialist cancer nursing for young people, which the charity is able to provide to every young person with cancer across the region.  

In 2015, the North West region of Manchester, Lancashire and South Cumbria was the location of the charity’s successful pilot for the outreach programme of specialist nurses, which is now being rolled out across the UK. Teenage Cancer Trust implemented a team of two outreach nurses, alongside Teenage Cancer Trust Lead Nurse, David Wright. 

The team of Teenage Cancer Trust nurses are providing specialist care to young people across the region who aren’t treated on the Teenage and Young Adult Unit (TYA) at The Christie, by visiting them at home and at their local hospitals. 

Chris Lowe, one of the Teenage Cancer Trust outreach nurses across Lancashire Teaching Hospitals, said: “Being diagnosed with cancer is a life changing moment for anyone, but for a young person it can be particularly hard to comprehend. They hear the word cancer, then they often don’t hear anything else; they are in shock and just switch off. I aim to be with all Teenage and Young Adult (TYA) patients in this region when they receive their diagnosis, so that I can spend some time with them and their family afterwards, to answer any questions that they might not have thought of initially, and reiterate what has been said to them.”  

David Wright, Teenage Cancer Trust Lead Nurse stressed the importance of having a network of Teenage Cancer Trust nurses across the country: “This year we were able to support a young man with a terminal diagnosis. He and his family were keen to attend a wedding over 300 miles away in Cornwall, which I didn’t think would be possible. But when I contacted a Teenage Cancer Trust specialist outreach nurse in Plymouth, she immediately agreed that they could facilitate the visit and offer him the medical support he needed. 

“She couldn’t have made the process more straightforward, and her support reassured the family and gave them the confidence to go to the wedding. It’s unlikely that this kind of thing would have been able to happen without Teenage Cancer Trust funding a network of nurses all over the UK in designated areas. It’s this kind of special experience that can stay with a family forever, thanks to the flexibility and freedom allowed by this specialist role.” 

The charity is calling for support to help fund enough nurses to provide specialist care to all young people who need it – right from the moment they hear the word ‘cancer’.    

Sam Smith, Interim Deputy Director of Nursing & Service Development, said: ”This European Cancer Nursing Day, we're calling for support to help fund more nurses to ensure every young person across the UK with cancer has access to the specialist care they need. Right now, we can only reach half.   

“Teenage Cancer Trust Nurses are experts in teenage and young adult cancer care. They know how to treat young people in a way that they respond to. They know what young people often worry about, and the things that can be confusing, and they are working within NHS teams to provide consistent support for young people and their families. Today we want to recognise and celebrate the amazing work that they do – a huge thank you, from everyone at Teenage Cancer Trust.”