"Being able to talk to a Doctor ..."

What I liked

Being able to talk to a Doctor who understood my concerns over my 2nd diagnosis of breast cancer and who took an holistic approach to me as an individual and not just my illness. The atmosphere in the Clinic and the rapport quickly established with the Doctor are fantastic. I now feel that I have someone in the medical profession who is looking after me as Christine and not just a patient.

What could be improved

As far as I am concerned, nothing can be improved. It is a wonderful haven to be able to visit.

I was lucky that my GP willingly referred me to the Cancer Clinic and has shown interest in my visits. However, I believe that the GP training does not cover complementary therapies and if they could be given a general awareness of the benefits which patients can achieve - this would create a more open minded approach to treating patients.

Anything else?

I understand there is a move to withdraw NHS funding for this fantastic service to patients. This would be criminal as I can personally testify that their treatment has improved my lymphoedema immensely - which traditional therapies have not been able to do. If the government withdraws its funding of the RLHH - surely they should realise that many of those patients will still need to be treated on the NHS in some form or another and could be just as costly? There must be someone with a high public profile who can lead a campaign to make the government aware of the overall benefits to patients. What we need is a 'Joanna Lumley' to champion the RLHH!