It emerged on Wednesday morning that a leading NHS hospital is delaying chemotherapy for cancer patient due to a lack of staff.
Andrew Weaver, the head of chemotherapy at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford, wrote to staff to explain that treatment was being delayed. In the measures, which are not yet official policy, he also warned that the number of chemotherapy cycles offered to the terminally ill would have to be cut because there were not enough staff trained to deal with medication.
The plans have been criticised by patient groups who say lives could be lost. The move shows the impact of shortages of doctors and nurses and it comes at a time when one in ten nursing posts is empty.
Share your experiences
We want to hear from those affected by this or similar policies, as well as from staff in the NHS concerned similar measures may be introduced where they work. Have you had a letter to tell you about a delay in getting chemotherapy? What’s been the impact? Do you work in a trust taking similar measures? Or are other policies being implemented to cope with having too few staff?
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