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21
Nov 2022
Charity pays for two cancer nurses at Harrogate hospital
A charity has funded two cancer nurses at Harrogate District Hospital in response to fears not enough people can access specialist cancer care.
Macmillan Cancer Support announced today it had spent £214,000 on the two-year posts as part of a £4.5 million investment across Yorkshire and the north-east of England.
The funding will pay for 42 specialist cancer nurses in northern England, of whom two will be employed by Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust.
The development roles will see nurses with an interest in moving into cancer services step into specialist cancer roles.
Noreen Hawkshaw, the Macmillan lead cancer nurse at Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, said:
Ms Hawkshaw added the investment would "allow nurses the time and space to develop into these specialist cancer nurse roles", adding:
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Macmillan said in a statement too many people in the north of England cannot access specialist cancer care and there are too few Macmillan cancer nurse specialists employed across the region.
It said a “crisis in cancer nursing” had left 630,000 people with cancer in the UK with a lack of dedicated support.
2,500 cancer nurses needed
The charity estimates an extra 2,500 specialist cancer nurses are required now.
Heather McLean, Macmillan’s head of partnerships for the north, said:
Rachel Moser, the interim programme manager with the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Cancer Alliance, which is hosting the programme in partnership with Macmillan, on behalf of the four cancer alliances across the north-east and Yorkshire region, said:
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