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Specialist nurse-led cancer helpline gets accreditation

A charity pancreatic cancer telephone support line run by specialist nurses has received national accreditation.
Helpline-iStock.jpg

A charity pancreatic cancer telephone support line run by specialist nurses has received national accreditation from an organisation representing helplines.


The report from HLP acknowledged the expertise of the specialist nurses
working on the support line. Picture: iStock

Pancreatic Cancer UK’s support line, the only dedicated support line for pancreatic cancer, has gained its national quality standard from Helplines Partnership (HLP).

The line supported 2,485 patients and families in 2015-16, a big rise from the 300 people it helped support when it was created in 2010.

The report from HLP acknowledged the expertise of the specialist nurses working on the support line.

Knowledgeable nurses

‘Support Line nurses were clearly knowledgeable, yet conveyed complex or sensitive information at an appropriate pace, checking understanding and summarising effectively.

‘Their empathetic approach was welcomed by the callers who had often been unsuccessful in accessing equivalent support or information from NHS sources.’

Pancreatic Cancer UK head of services Sarah Bell said: ‘We are delighted to have achieved the Helplines Standard, which highlights the enormous difference we are making to the lives of people affected by this tough cancer.

‘It also paves the way for us to achieve our target of doubling the number of patients and families using our Support Line by 2020.’

Reaching more patients

Ms Bell said the charity wanted to reach ‘at least a fifth of those diagnosed’, as part of its five-year strategy entitled Taking it on Together.

She added: ‘This is an ambitious goal, but it is a vital one, because but all too often we hear from people affected by pancreatic cancer that when they were first diagnosed, they were unable to access the right information and did not know where to turn for help.

‘We are absolutely committed to changing this and to transforming the future for patients and families once and for all.’

Pancreatic Cancer UK’s specialist nurses offer support and information about the disease, treatment options and managing symptoms and side effects.

Around 9,600 people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer each year in the UK.

Just 5% of people diagnosed will live for five years or more after diagnosis, and survival rates for the disease have barely improved since the early 1970s, according to information from the charity.

Contact the charity’s Support Line on freephone 0808 801 0707, or by emailing support@pancreaticcancer.org.uk


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