Brain tumour patients face 'such a lack of care'

Sophie Reid is campaigning for better care for brain tumour patients like herself

Jersey brain tumour patients and a support charity have called for more specialist care to be made available locally.

The island used to have a cancer nurse specialist who was responsible for people with brain tumours, but she resigned several years ago and had not been replaced.

Sophie Reid, who was diagnosed with a grade three tumour last year, said "there's such a local lack of care" in the island.

The health minister said he would form a working group including campaigners like Ms Reid and charities to see how care could be improved in the island.

Sophie has undergone treatment for her brain tumour

Ms Reid said she was not offered a CT scan when she was collapsed from a seizure and was told by the Health Department "processes weren't followed".

She said she was campaigning for specialist hospital staff to be brought to the island to ensure this did not continue to happen.

Ms Reid said: "We need someone here that we can just be able to email or phone that can answer our questions... [but] we don't have anyone here who can do that."

"Even if we started off at the bare minimum, with a clinical nurse specialist - just someone so we've got that point of contact - that would be a shorter-term goal."

Health Minister Tom Binet said he was working with patients to improve care

Health Minister Tom Binet said he had been meeting patients to hear their concerns.

He said: "I know a number of people that are affected... We're certainly going to look at hiring a specialist but there are no guarantees as to exactly what we do.

"I know there have been some episodes that haven't gone as well as they should and that shouldn't be the case, so we're going to be working on this as quickly as we can.

The UK charity Brain Tumour Research said the disease killed more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer.

Jo Hambrooke (left) and Sonia Le Clercq (right) from the Jersey Brain Tumour Charity have also called for more local support

The number of brain tumour cases in Jersey has steadily risen over the last decade.

Between 2014 and 2016, there were 20 cases in the island, which was the same Age-Standardized Rate (ASR) as England.

But from 2018 until 2020, there were 29 cases in Jersey, which was a higher ASR rate than compared to England.

The Jersey Brain Tumour Charity provides practical and emotional support and information to anyone affected by a brain tumour in the island.

It said it had already taken on 34 new clients in 2025, whereas it saw 20 people for support for the whole of 2024.

Charity chairwoman Sonia Le Clercq said: "Jersey used to have a cancer nurse specialist who was responsible for people with brain tumours, so we're hoping to persuade the government to bring somebody in."

Charity trustee, nurse and counsellor Jo Hambrook added: "I think that nurse will be wonderful to have back in order for us to have better communication, because our clients are left in a bit of limbo land at the moment."