'NHS won't pay for post-cancer treatment' (From Bournemouth Echo)

'NHS won't pay for post-cancer treatment'

12:53pm Saturday 4th October 2008 in

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A SINGLE mother who is suffering from a medical condition linked to breast cancer surgery two years ago is struggling to find £35 a fortnight for private treatment because the NHS won't fund it.

Julie Hinks, 44, developed lymphoedema - a build-up of fluid in her left arm - after undergoing an operation at Poole Hospital to remove and reconstruct her left breast. She also had several lymph nodes removed to stop the cancer spreading.

Lymphoedema can develop after cancer treatment, making the limb uncomfortable. Sufferers have to be careful not to break the skin because of the risk of infection. The lifelong condition can be relieved by wearing compression bandages or sleeves and by gentle massage.

Miss Hinks, of Talbot Village, Poole, has been going to trained therapist Christine Talbot in Wareham every two weeks for the massage, called manual lymphatic drainage. Bournemouth and Poole Primary Care Trust will not pay, although other patients living in Dorset PCT's area are being funded.

"Christine has written to Bournemouth and Poole, but they don't want to know," claimed Miss Hinks. "There is so much cancer out there and so many women with lymphoedema, the system can't cope. It really is disgraceful."

Miss Hinks, who has been bringing up her two children on income support, was forced to go without treatment for five weeks last Christmas because she could not pay. "My arm was considerably worse," she said.

Last week, she had to borrow from her daughter's birthday money to fund the MLD.

She has now been given a £300 grant by Macmillan Cancer Support. "I'm really grateful, but I've been having this treatment every other week for a year and it's ongoing," she said.

A spokeswoman for Bournemouth and Poole PCT said: "We recognise that this can be a very debilitating condition for sufferers.

"We have a lymphoedema service that people can access via their GP and support them to carry out manual drainage themselves.

"We don't routinely fund this particular treatment, but each case is considered on its merits. We would expect an approach to reconsider to come from the GP."

The spokeswoman added that the PCT had set aside money to improve the lymphoedema service and was also introducing a holistic programme next year to help the growing number of cancer survivors continue with their daily lives.

More health stories in Wednesday's Echo