Cancer treatment being cancelled on monday

[pinok]

I’ve seen some people say their cancer treatment has been cancelled on Monday and delayed by a month..

Surely a month can make a difference for a cancer patient? 😳

Really surprised this hasn’t been regarded as essential

The difference is that you know months or even a year in advance that this will happen so things are in place to allow for smooth running and to ensure there are no extended delays. A bank holiday on short notice is disastrous. Even those clinics cancelled mean some patient's cancer will progress while they are waiting to be seen or to start treatment. MDTs won't happen etc. I don't think essential services should have been shut down - they could have offered the staff an extra paid day off work to be taken another time.

I found out the week before. I had no clue it wouldn't happen as usual 🤦‍♀️

We're lucky. DH's routine monitoring MRI is still going ahead on Monday (it's not urgent so assumed it would be cancelled)

My husband said in the hospital he works at they gave people in the surgical ward the bank holiday, but then realised there are still essential surgeries taking place, so are begging people to work the Monday.
What a cock up, also funerals are being cancelled.. because of the queen's funeral.

I agree re essential services though. My work will still be open and running.

I can see why shops etc might want to close though

My treatment is going ahead

A large part of the problem is that schools being off means childcare issues for staff. So others need to be off. etc
It's unfortunate, but imagine the uproar if it wasn't a bank holiday.
I'm pretty sure that delaying to the Monday was to allow another 24 hours for people to view the lying in state. 3 days would have been nowhere near enough time for the volume of people anticipated, and I'm not sure 4 days will be enough either. .

My mum has had hers brought forward to Friday

Instead

Can we please stop with the "it's not what the Queen would have wanted" garbage. The Queen was not adverse to stuff being cancelled in order to to create Bank Holidays for Royal events (stuff got cancelled for the Platinum Jubilee too) and she would have signed off on the protocols surrounding her death and burial. Of course she couldnt have forseen covid or the consequences for the NHS which have compounded the problem.

It's not the Trusts' fault that a bank holiday has been called. What do you expect all those with children to do? Ask the kids to sit quietly in the corner of an OR. People are blaming the wrong people here.

I was due to go in on Sunday for surgery on Monday, I got a letter yesterday telling me that this has now been postponed because of the funeral to 28th September. I have Stage 3 bile duct/liver cancer and live in South Wales. I am not a happy bunny to say the least. 😑

I complete agree.

I was indifferent to the Royal Family before but am feeling increasingly anti-Royalist.
They have the best of everything - healthcare, food, homes, clothing. Private luxury transport, do not need to lift a finger to do anything, no financial/educational concerns etc.
Given all that, they should bloody well live to 96y old and be able to “work” throughout esp if their work involves making small talk with dignitaries and inconsequential weekly chats with the PM.

The decision to have the funeral on a Monday (rather than a Sunday) and make it a bank hol smacks of entitlement with little concern for the plebs who will lose a day of work that maybe essential to pay their fuel bills or patients who miss out on essential care. The cost to the NHS to pay bank/locum rates for staff to work on a bank holiday, the evert growing back log of appointments and the impact on the economy (following the impact from the jubilee bank hol, which we haven’t recovered from).

I am livid at the lack of care, concern or consideration- they are just oblivious.

@Farmerazza - trusts are offering extra day off some other time and/or extra pay but either way this comes at a massive financial cost to the NHS.
And, as per PP, staff have children and, unless you have the full compliment available, it will be difficult to deliver certain services e.g. OP appointments, surgery, biopsies, multidisciplinary meetings etc.

I've said this in another thread but it merits repeating

They are being praised for all the meticulous planning they put in re the royal events and walks and tours and signings . All planned down to the letter

Did they give a second thought to the ordinary people and how they might be affected ? Hell no.
Ordinary people are only of use to flag wave and line the streets
They allowed competitive mourning to build to ridiculous levels . It could all have been avoided with some thought and clear messaging prepared in advance. The queens death was hardly a shock .

They could have anticipated all of this disruption to operations and funerals . They've had decades .The needs of ordinary people wouldn't cross their mind .

Not life saving cancer treatment - luckily that treatment is well behind me - but an appointment with a specialist for a post cancer issue that I made three months ago has been moved because Australia has declared a random public holiday on the 22nd! I could understand the day of the funeral but really, and like most people here give a damn.

I guess what I am saying is that we could have all worked as normal then offered a day off in lieu, rather than cancelling clinics and surgeries at short notice. Only a few people have offered to run clinics as per usual and other clinics have been cancelled.

Exactly !!!

Our trust is carrying on as normal, we’ve been told if your clinical or administrative support and rostered to work, they’ll assume you will be in work- and quite right to!

As soon as the bank holiday was announced Immediately said this is going to hit the NHS fucking hard! As if they needed any more bloody difficulties!

Dh has had his patients procedures (colonoscopies) cancelled without anyone discussing it with him!! He has patients on there who are desperate for a diagnosis, some will potentially be cancers. He has no idea when he can fit in an extra list now to do them. He’s asked if a Saturday would be possible, or a late evening, but the nurses aren’t keen apparently. What a fuck up.

I doubt it was considered. And maybe the idea wasn't for it to be a bank holiday but take place at the weekend. Goodness knows why they chose a Monday.

I hope that the King makes clear that his funeral has to be at a weekend and cause as little disruption to ordinary people as possible.

Yes, all of this. They still haven't cleared the backlogs from covid! It's unforgivable to be cancelling these procedures.

And @Pippa12 - how are staff managing childcare with nurseries and schools closed? I don’t think trusts can enforce this, as the BH was announced with little notice.

Also a day off in lieu for every staff member in the NHS (100s of thousands) amounts to a hell of a lot of lost working hours and financial cost.

Nope. Chemo and Radiotherapy on Monday. What a way to spend the day. Seems to be business as usual where I am, even the coffee shop is open (thank goodness!)

Unfortunately with an official bank holiday declared staff can't be forced to work, especially with schools and childcare shut.

74% of our clinics and about 80% surgery is going ahead. They should've done it on a weekend day! The financial cost of those procedures going ahead will be huge