Robert Fisk has said he received more mental health support from a coffee stand owner than from his cancer hospital for three years, until a holistic needs assessment was finally offered.
Writing in the Daily Express, Fisk described how the coffee stand owner flexed his arm muscles and called him "boss man" before giving him a ginger biscuit, after Fisk told him he was heading to hospital for tests related to his bowel cancer diagnosis. The owner was confident Fisk would beat the disease, though Fisk did not tell him the cancer is incurable. That was in the summer of 2023, and three years later the owner still asks how he is doing.
A delayed assessment
Fisk said that for three long years he was getting more mental health support from the coffee stand owner than from the medical team at his "so-called world-leading cancer hospital". That was until very recently, when he was invited to the hospital for a holistic needs assessment.
This assessment is meant to give cancer patients an opportunity to discuss how they are feeling after diagnosis, ensure they have support with benefits, talking to an employer, coping with side-effects, dealing with the emotional side, and allow them to talk through any other issues. It is supposed to happen soon after diagnosis, but Fisk noted it often does not happen, or is not done in a way that benefits the patient.
Campaign for change
His own assessment came after a meeting with a member of the "leadership team" at the hospital, where he expressed concerns about the lack of mental health support. This lack of support is why he started the Daily Express's Cancer Care campaign, calling for mental health support during and after treatment, including a holistic needs assessment shortly after diagnosis.
Fisk said he is delighted that the Labour Government agreed, and that behind-the-scenes work is under way on a personal cancer plan for patients which will ensure mental health support. This is set to start next year and will effectively replace the holistic needs assessment (HNA).
Building his own support team
Before that happens, Fisk wanted to see if the HNA is any good. He said it could have been beneficial if he had had it three years ago, when he did not know how he was going to survive emotionally, financially, and physically, and had not worked out survival tips like which days he would feel too sick to eat.
Since then, he has battled the system and the disease by assembling his own team of "Avengers-like superheroes" made up of family, friends, his two GPs, colleagues, and specialists in psychology, neurology, dermatology, cardiology, physiotherapy and thrombology. He said there was not much for his assessor to help him with, but he left the meeting feeling hopeful that the forthcoming personal cancer plan will take the positives from the HNA and improve on it massively.
Working together for patients
Fisk repeated his view that this support will only happen if the NHS, charities and other organisations work together for the benefit of patients. He said the NHS needs to realise that mental health support is not just high-level services from in-house psychologists, and can sometimes be as simple as referring a lonely person to a walking group or telling them about a coffee morning.
Charities need to keep the NHS informed about the services they offer, because medics are not mind-readers and will only know about such groups if they are told about their existence.
