The Welsh Government’s Cancer Delivery Plan, published in June 2012, made a commitment to routinely offer the opportunity to access financial advice and support as part of the care assessment and planning process for everyone diagnosed with cancer.
Macmillan welcomed this but 3 years on, patients are not routinely being referred to welfare benefits advice services they need. The results of the All-Wales Cancer Patient Experience Survey, show more than half of patients had not been given enough information about how to access welfare benefits services. In addition to this, our analysis of Health Boards’ Cancer Delivery Plans shows none of them have mentioned how they plan to meet this requirement.