Just spoke to my terminally ill Aunt on the phone and she said that (although there are a goodly amount of people with cancer in our little town) they have no groups for sufferers to meet and just talk. I thought NHS mental health care in Paisley was rubbish, and it was, but I have never encountered such abysmal "care" from GPs and at the organisational level as I have since coming to live in Argyll.
Mental health services in Cowal and Bute are an absolute disgrace, I told my (now ex) GP that mental health services in Cowal are appalling and he laughed and said "I know". Well, as someone not suffering from a mental illness, perhaps he could afford to laugh, of course he shouldn't have.... but I think mental health services are usually rubbish wherever you go - but cancer services? Why did no-one ever think to set up groups for cancer sufferers to just sit and talk and vent and cry and share stuff they don't want to offload onto their families? Why, in 2014 does an NHS worker involved in working with cancer sufferers say "I've never thought of that! That’s a good idea" when a dying woman suggests a group might be a good idea?
Who is in charge of deciding which services are available to us in Cowal and why did no one ever think that terminally ill people who live in Cowal deserved to have groups set up for them to get together and talk about their experiences?
We have a wonderful hospice, thank the goddesses, for people whose cancer is terminal and believe me - we had to fight to keep it because the powers that be were going to take it away from us. But what kind of services do we have for people who are still alive in Cowal? My beloved Mum died in the hospice and her dear friend before her and I have for some time supported the hospices in Paisley and the town I live in because I have seen how important they are to people...
I am going to go off now and find out who is responsible for the absence of a social group for cancer sufferers in Cowal because it's a complete disgrace that we don't have one.
"Lack of support for sufferers of cancer in Cowal and Bute."
About: Cowal Community Hospital (formerly Dunoon General) / Accident & Emergency Cowal Community Hospital (formerly Dunoon General) Accident & Emergency PA23 7RL Cowal Community Hospital (formerly Dunoon General) / General Surgery Cowal Community Hospital (formerly Dunoon General) General Surgery PA23 7RL
Posted by veritas (as ),
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Update posted by veritas (a carer) 9 years ago
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