Cancer nursing on the line: why we need urgent investment across the UK (Macmillan, September 2021)

Summary

The Covid-19 pandemic has both laid bare and exacerbated the strain the cancer workforce has been under for many years. When the pandemic hit, some services were forced to pause, whilst others had to quickly adapt and many have still not ‘returned to normal’. Some cancer nurses were also deployed to care around the clock for the half a million people admitted to hospital with coronavirus. The practical and emotional impact of this disruption on people living with cancer has been profound.

Macmillan’s new research establishes that cancer nurses are being stretched too thinly, trying to be there at our time of greatest need, and coping with the physical and emotional toll of the pandemic. Cancer and the devastating impact it has on lives should not be forgotten, and neither should our nurses and NHS.

In this report, Cancer nursing on the line: why we need urgent investment across the UK, Macmillan is calling for Governments across the UK to invest a total of around £170 million to fund the training costs of creating nearly 4,000 additional cancer nurses required by 2030 to provide the care people need.

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