Cancer Wellbeing Service

The Cancer Wellbeing Service provides a wide range of free information and support to patients with a cancer diagnosis, their relatives, friends, and carers.

You can talk to a member of the team about your cancer diagnosis and how it is affecting you. This includes emotional, physical, financial, practical, and spiritual concerns, or could be as simple as needing someone to talk to.

We have access to many easy-to-understand information resources to help meet your needs. We can also signpost and/or refer you to local and national specialist organisations who are best placed to support you. We work closely with other clinical teams at the Trust, including your chemotherapy nurses, clinical nurse specialist team and consultants.

Contact us

You can speak to a member of the team by dropping in to one of our Cancer Care Centres at York or Scarborough Hospital. Our Cancer Care Centre at York is currently open Mondays and Wednesday from 9:00am-3:00pm, and our Cancer Care Centre at Scarborough is currently open Monday-Friday from 8:00am-4:00pm.

You can also give us a call on 01904 721166 (York) or 01723 342606 (Scarborough), and you can email us via yhs-tr.cancersupportandinformation@nhs.net. If we are not in the office, there is a voicemail facility for you to leave a message and we will get back to you during office hours within two working days. If you require support outside of these hours, you can call the Macmillan Support Line on 0808 808 0000, which is open 7 days a week from 8:00am-8:00pm.

Support offered

When you speak to one of our Health and Wellbeing Officers, we will take the time to listen and understand your unique situation and your needs. Following this, we will offer guidance on how to access the best support for you, either through our service or by signposting and / or referring to one of our service partners.

The Cancer Wellbeing Service offers the following support directly:

• Emotional support, either via telephone or face-to-face at one of our Cancer Care Centres.
• Support and Wellbeing Courses.
• Complementary therapy (holistic treatments provided alongside your medical care which can help you to cope better with symptoms and side effects) (York only, eligibility requirements apply).
• Support for common impacts and side-effects of cancer and cancer treatments, such as cancer-related fatigue.
• Cancer hairdressing service (Scarborough only).
• Signposting to a range of organisations and support groups (see below).
• Ongoing support through wellbeing calls.

Alongside this, we are also able to offer signposting and referrals to specialist services through our core service partners, including (but not limited to):

• Benefits and welfare advice for patients with cancer.
• Social Prescribing support (offering referrals to community-based activities, groups, and services through your GP).
• Psychological support.
• Exercise and activity referrals.
• Help to address body image concerns.
• Access to one-to-one and group support sessions and activities.
• Specialist advice and support for people receiving palliative (end-of-life) care or support.
• Access to Macmillan services.

Local support groups

There are lots of local support groups and meetings which you can attend. You can find a full list of local support groups using the Cancer Care Map website.

There are also some groups supported by our nursing teams. You can find details of these groups and their upcoming meetings below:

York Prostate Support Group

Location: The Leverson Centre, York Community Stadium, Kathryn Avenue, Huntington, York, YO32 9AF

Email yhs-tr.urologycancernursespecialist@nhs.net

Bridlington Prostate Support Group

First Wednesday of every month at 7pm.

Location: Dining Room, Bridlington Hospital, Bessingby Rd, Bridlington, YO16 4QP

Email yhs-tr.urologycancernursespecialist@nhs.net

Scarborough Prostate Support Group

Second Tuesday of every month at 7.30pm.

Location: Westover Club, 3 Westover Road, Scarborough, YO12 5AA

York Colorectal Support Group

Location: The Leveson Centre, York Community Stadium, Kathryn Avenue, York, YO32 9AF

Email yhs-tr.urologycancernursespecialist@nhs.net