Cost of living support for your patients
How Macmillan is supporting your patients
We know a cancer diagnosis can be tough on someone's finances. With the cost of living rising, many people affected by cancer are making tough choices between things like getting to hospital appointments, and paying for food, water and utility bills.
Macmillan is committed to doing whatever it takes to give people living with cancer the support they need. On this page, you will find information about the different ways Macmillan is supporting your patients through the cost of living crisis.
The latest money and cancer information for your patients
We have information and support to help people manage money worries and the financial impact of cancer. Our information brings together answers to common questions about benefits, income, bills and other costs.
People can find information about:
- financial help they may be entitled to
- benefits and how to find out what they could claim
- work, income and financial support for carers
- grants and other financial support
- help with health and travel costs
- energy bills, housing costs and council tax
- how to contact Macmillan for money advice and other support.
We also have information about dealing with the costs of cancer in different formats, including audiobooks and Easy Read versions.
Booklets and resources
Talk to our money advisers
If your patients are worried about money, there are experts on the Macmillan Support Line they can talk to.
Our money advisers can help people to find out what benefits they might be entitled to. People can speak to an adviser from Monday to Friday, 8am-6pm. You can:
- call the Macmillan Support Line for free on 0808 808 00 00
- chat to a specialist online
- use our interpreter service to speak to advisors in different languages.
Money and cancer hub
Our Money and Cancer hub gives people practical information about money. All they need to do is answer a few simple questions to get only the information that is relevant to their situation.
Benefits calculator
Macmillan’s handy benefits calculator works out which financial support and benefits a someone is entitled to.
The calculator uses information about someone's income, savings, pension and existing benefits. Once this information is inputted, the calculator will check what a person can claim and also offers the opportunity to download or print the results for future use.
Emotional support for your patients
If you are supporting people with worries about money and feel they need someone to talk to or emotional support, we can help. Here are some of the ways people can get this support.
Talk to other people with cancer on our Online Community
The Macmillan Online Community is a free online place for people who are living with or who are affected by cancer to chat about the issues affecting them.
There are forums for all sorts of different topics, including types of cancer. Here are some forums you may find helpful.
- Emotional support forum. Cancer can be emotionally draining, but sharing their feelings can help people feel better.
- Cancer chat forum. People can use this space to talk about anything and everything including sharing experiences and advice on practical issues when living with cancer, such as money, work, benefits, transport, food and drink, organising support at home, or getting specialist equipment.
Other emotional help
We have other services to provide emotional support for people with cancer.
This includes things like: