I've had my diagnosis and outline of the proposed treatment plan - I have not yet agreed the plan nor have I started treatment.
My current Cancer Care Hospital is difficult for me and my support friend to travel to and there's a closer Hospital that also delivers the same treatment services and is Consultant led. The problem is it's run by a different Trust.
Can I request transfer from one Trust to another before starting treatment and how would I go about this.
Hello Tadp
I'm Steph from the Community team, thank you for your question although I'm sorry it's about a diagnosis of cancer. I hope you're able to access the care that is most suitable for you.
We've moved your question across from the 'Ask an Information & Support Adviser' to the 'Ask a Nurse' forum, as our nurses will be best qualified to offer a full response.
It may take a little longer for our nurses to respond as this session is closed at the weekend and they offer a three working day response.
If you would like to speak to someone in the meantime, our Support Line teams are available 7 days a week, 8am-8pm on freephone 0808 808 00 00, email or live webchat.
Please do let us know if you have any questions or if you’d like some help using the Community or further support with anything at all. I hope that the Community shows you that there’s a lot of support available for you.
Best wishes
Hello Tadp
Thank you for getting in touch and welcome to the Online Community. I’m Hilary one of the Cancer Information Nurses here on the Macmillan Support Line.
I can appreciate how concerning it must be when accessing treatment due to location is difficult.
There may be an opportunity to change to a different trust. This would depend on a variety of things including capacity of the trust that you would be transferring to and the transfer of funding.
It would be a good start to have a conversation with your current consultant and ask, that due to your travel difficulties, this would be something they would consider as a possibility.
There is information about transferring care and the choices we have here and here
The NHS Choice Framework gives more detail about certain criteria that can be considered when looking to transfer treatment.
Another option that may be worth considering is accessing transport to and from hospital. Here and here you can find information that you may find useful.
Travelling to appointments by taxi (depending on distance), private hospital transport companies and local community transport services are options sometimes chosen by patients. There may be help with the cost of this from us. To read more about this do take a look at Macmillan Grants. Organisations including the Royal Voluntary Service or a community voluntary service near to you may be worth exploring.
You might be able to find out more about people who have experienced the same situation as you through one of our online community forums. They may have some good advice as to how they found a solution.
I hope this information is helpful. If you have any further questions, please get in touch again. You can also speak with the Macmillan Support Line team of experts. Phone free on 0808 808 0000 (7 days a week, 8am-8pm) or send us an email or contact us through Webchat
Best wishes
Hilary.
Cancer Information Nurse Specialist
Ref/** HG/JF
