Nottingham hospitals' cancer treatment delays 'incredibly tough'

The trust said chemotherapy treatments had been affected by long-term staff sickness, as well as vacancies

A senior Nottingham health advisor has admitted it is an "incredibly tough" time, after staff shortages halted some cancer treatments.

Last week, Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) trust confirmed a lack of specialist nurses meant some chemotherapy had been "paused".

Tim Guyler, an advisor to the trust's board, said they were facing decisions they "never want to have to make".

One doctor at the unit said they were now "apologising for a broken system".

Mr Guyler is an advisor to the board at NUH, which runs the Queen's Medical Centre (QMC) and the City Hospital.

The trust said it was 30% down on specialist staff and could not deliver a full service

He referred to the treatment problems during a Nottingham City Council health and wellbeing meeting on Thursday, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said.

He said: "It has been very difficult.

"We have been having to make the kind of decisions that frankly you would never want to have to make about access to limited resources, be it from a chemotherapy and cancer operations side of things.

"It has been incredibly tough."

The trust said its service had been affected by long-term staff sickness and staff vacancies.

Critical report

The problem was also documented by Nottingham oncologist Dr Lucy Gossage, who wrote in a blog post last week: "Right now we don't have the staffing capacity to deliver chemotherapy to all our patients and so, for the first time, the prioritisation list has come into force.

"And that means that, currently, we are unable to offer chemotherapy that aims to prolong life or palliate symptoms for many people with advanced cancer.

"I can't imagine what it must be like to sit opposite your oncologist to be told that your treatment is being paused and we don't know when we can restart it.

"But as oncologists, we're not used to apologising for a broken system. And that, right now, is what we're doing every day."

Mr Guyler also acknowledged a recent inspectors' report that led to the trust being rated as "requires improvement", and highlighted a "disconnect between the board and the wider organisation".

He said: "There is a very significant challenge in that we are not supporting the organisation in the way we need to. We have work to do on that.

"It's never nice to have that kind of feedback but it is important to recognise it."

A spokesperson for the trust said it expected to restart chemotherapy for all patients who require it some time in October.