Gordon McLean, Macmillan Strategic Partnership Manager said:
“These results testify to the compassion and quality of care being offered to people with cancer by hard working NHS staff, but they also highlight where improvements are needed.
“Cancer can disrupt every part of a person’s life — from personal finances to people’s mental and emotional wellbeing — and everyone diagnosed with cancer in Scotland should be receiving care and support that is right for their personal needs.
“More needs to be done to ensure people receive a written care plan to help manage both their clinical and wider needs. Far too many people did not receive financial information, even though cancer can cause huge financial anxiety, and impact by more than £1000 a month on average. Such gaps in meeting the wider needs of people with cancer must be addressed.
“Much is already being done, but it is vital these results are harnessed by everyone working to deliver cancer care in Scotland, so people can get the personalised information, care and support they need, at the time when they need it the most.”
Kay from Lanarkshire, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012, and now volunteers with her local Macmillan Cancer Information and Support Service said:
“I have never forgotten how terrifying my own cancer diagnosis was, or how desperately I needed to understand it — but it was a whirlwind, and I was already halfway through radiotherapy before I even understood my own diagnosis.
“Detailed care planning is so vitally important. It can help people to feel more in control of their cancer diagnosis and treatment, and by signposting people to wider support it can help them manage the whole host of non-clinical issues, like their financial and emotional wellbeing, before things reach a crisis point.
“We see it every week in the hubs we run in local libraries, where we are on hand to give people booklets and refer them on to local support services — cancer touches every part of a person’s life and it can throw lives into chaos. Getting the right information makes a real difference.
“As someone who has gone through cancer, I can say to the people I meet through my volunteering that ‘I know, I remember’ and that does people a power of good. That, alongside us being there to signpost people to the wider support that is available, goes such a long way in giving people the sense of ‘being looked after’ that so many desperately need.”
Headline findings:
- 95% of respondents expressed a positive view of the cancer care they received.
- 96% of respondents said they had been treated with dignity and respect during their cancer care.
Care planning concerns:
- Around 2 in 3 cancer patients in Scotland (64%) were not offered a written care plan to meet their needs or concerns. A care plan is a document received after diagnosis which sets out the patient’s needs and goals. It should include what treatment has been planned for them and the emotional, practical and financial support they will receive.
- Around 1 in 4 patients in Scotland (24%) were not given timely information about the wider support available from charity, voluntary or community groups.
- Macmillan’s own data from January 2024 shows that three in four cancer patients in the UK (74%) need more support with one or more needs related to their diagnosis.
- The Scotland CPES shows around 1 in 4 cancer patients in Scotland (23%) did not fully understand information about the impact of cancer or cancer treatment on day-to-day activities.
- Around 2 in 5 cancer patients in Scotland (37%) were not given enough care and support when it came to their mental or emotional wellbeing.
- Other recent research from Macmillan suggests one in four people with cancer in the UK (23%) have serious mental health concerns as a result of their diagnosis.
The importance of financial advice:
- Around 2 in 5 (41%) cancer patients in Scotland did not receive information about how to get financial help or benefits they could be entitled to because of their cancer diagnosis.
- Macmillan research shows four in five people with cancer in the UK (83%) experience a financial impact from their diagnosis, which for those affected reaches more than £1,000 a month on average.