Top 10 Tips: Supporting people with work

Not everyone with cancer will be able to work, but 87% of people who are employed when diagnosed say continuing to work is important. For many, work helps with a sense of normality, positivity and self-esteem and a very legitimate coping mechanism. 

View the Fit Note as a conversation tool rather than something on your list of jobs to do. It helps you provide advice to patients about the functional effects of their condition on their fitness for work – a bit like a prescription for work advice.

The Fit Note comments box is your opportunity to highlight the impact cancer might have on your patient’s ability to work; this can help their conversations with their employer or Jobcentre. For example, ‘chemotherapy will finish in X weeks, see me about fitness for work two weeks after’, or ‘visits to hospital required every week for blood test and chemo’.

Signpost patients to Macmillan’s Work Support Service, available Monday-Friday, 8am-6pm on 0808 808 00 00. This supports people with talking to employers, as well as negotiating adjustments, sick pay and taking time off. It can also refer those with more complex needs to one-off legal advice.

We have more information about money and work.

Cancer Care Reviews are another opportunity to have work-related conversations. Macmillan templates within relevant IT systems can prompt holistic conversations, such as about work, and provide downloadable information you can share with patients to help them access further support.

Written by Jacqui Graves

Next planned review: January 2025

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