16,000 Helpline calls
The Prostate Cancer Charity offers specialist support and information to men with prostate cancer and their families.
Vital service
Our Helpline took 16,000 calls last year, of which 20 per cent were referred from the NHS.
For men diagnosed with prostate cancer, the Helpline’s specialist nurses are a unique source of much-needed information and support. Last year, a National Audit Office report found that, compared with three other common cancers, men with prostate cancer were more than twice as likely to have had no discussion when they were diagnosed, and nearly twice as likely to have an unmet need for information.
Networkers
Our Helpline can also put callers in touch with volunteer Networkers – people with experience of prostate cancer who are often inspired to help others by the support they received.
Networker, Denis Blake says: "People can ask me anything they like... about incontinence, impotence, whatever. I tell them truth. I don’t recommend a particular treatment choice, but I tell them what happened to me, what I chose to do and how I got on."
Funding specialist nurses
We fund four specialist prostate cancer nurses. Their work is being assessed by King’s College School of Nursing and Midwifery in London to provide evidence that this specialist support makes a real difference. Last year each nurse saw, on average, over 800 men with prostate cancer and spoke on the phone to 500 more.
The Sovereign Health Care Charitable Trust offered its support for Zoe Scaife, our specialist nurse at St Luke’s Hospital in Bradford, with grants totalling £11,000.
UK-wide impact
We are committed to providing local prostate cancer support and services right across the UK.
In 2004/05, we appointed our first Head of Regional Development and pilot projects will begin during 2005/06, the first in Scotland. Longterm, we want to create networks of volunteers who will campaign for service improvements.
African Caribbean Awareness Project
There’s an urgent need to raise awareness of prostate cancer among African Caribbean men in the UK, who are three times more likely to develop the disease than white men.
We work with community advisers in Birmingham, Bristol, Bradford, Liverpool and Leeds to find effective and innovative ways of getting our life-saving message across. More than 200 people attended the first annual Prostate Cancer Charity dominoes tournament in Bradford in October 2004, which was won by the Bradford community group, the Federation of African & Caribbean Elders.
back: A researcher's perspective | next: A user's perspective