Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust Cancer Care

15/12/2025

📣 December is Cancer related fatigue awareness month,

💤 Fatigue can be caused by cancer itself or the side effects of the treatments. Fatigue is described as feeling exhausted or very tired mostly or all the time.

Cancer related fatigue can affect you emotionally, physically and mentally.

More information can be found on the Cancer Research UK website:
https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/coping/physically/fatigue/what-is-cancer-fatigue

📣 Salisbury Hospital have launched webinars on the new Cancer Support YouTube channel with lots of information to help you understand anxiety, fatigue and sleep in the context of cancer. They provide practical tips if you are feeling anxious, fatigued or struggling to sleep.

Some patients who used the webinars have had these fantastic comments to say about attending them:

🖤 "What I found most helpful about the webinar was knowing that I wasn’t on my own, I wasn’t making things up or exaggerating things. The chemo related fatigue I am experiencing is real, as is the intermittent brain fog, which I find very frustrating and debilitating at times. In turn, the webinar proposed a series of tactics, I could deploy - things like avoiding boom and bust cycles and keeping up my exercise regime. So, thank you Emma for producing this massively valuable webinar".

🖤 GB – Nov 2025 ‘The Managing Cancer Related fatigue webinar is very well put together in a form that a layman can understand. A lot of the content is common sense but having it all in one webinar concentrates the mind and helped me manage my fatigue day to day. Thank you’.

🖤 PG – August 2025 ‘I found it really useful - it is streets ahead of one I saw a while back and mentioned to you this morning. It has lots of useful points and things I hadn't considered and presented in a very well-structured way. It also makes me feel less guilty when I don't manage to do all the things I had planned to do in a day, and ways of addressing it. I will watch the webinar again and make a list of things to do. I will also check out some links you mentioned at the end'.

To access the webinars, click on the link below:
https://youtu.be/Z4rIYSlWzA8?si=ACNilplf0aXW9Ify

Fatigue means feeling very tired, exhausted and lacking energy. It can be a symptom of the cancer itself or a side effect of treatment.

08/12/2025

🧡 ☀️ Shine Cancer Support are hosting a Christmas dinner where you are invited to come along. We will be meeting on Saturday 13th of December at 7pm at The Ox Row in Salisbury city centre.

Shine Cancer Support are a charity aimed at supporting people with cancer in their 20s, 30s and 40s and bringing them together with regular meet ups. 🗓

Enjoy the festive period and get a tasty Christmas meal on Shine completely free! 🎄⛄🍽🎅

If you want to come, please RSVP below so a table can be reserved. Please feel free to pass this on to any friends or family who might want to come.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScF-N6YV8bAT1afvVPFYxsreIuVU1_cEHycHtMmpeRCp9g6EQ/viewform

02/12/2025

This week (2nd- 8th of December) is National Grief Awareness Week. This is aimed to highlight the effects of grief experienced in many ways.

This could be several things such as:

🖤The end of a relationship
🖤Losing your job
🖤Moving to a new location
🖤A decline in the physical or mental health of someone we are about.

👥 Talking about it can help and Open Door Warminster have a Grief & Bereavement Support Group available as a drop-in service.

📍They meet on the 2nd and 4th Friday of every month from 10am until 12pm at the Athenaeum, Warminster, and the Cancer Support Cancer Support Café meet on the 1st and 3rd Friday at the same time and place.

📣 They will be closed on Friday 26th of December and Friday 2nd of January.

There is no need to book, come a long for an informal chat over a cup of tea and a biscuit. ☕🍪

28/11/2025

📣On Tuesday 2nd of December, Jo - Cancer Services Engagement and Experience Coordinator and Emma- Macmillan Cancer Support Occupational Therapist will be at the Market Square in Salisbury City centre.

They will be there to:

⭐️ Provide the community with information on our new digital resources
⭐ Publicise the range of Cancer Support services available in the community
⭐ Represent the Trust and answer questions about how to engage with Cancer Services
⭐ Promote the range of Macmillan resources available and how to access these to the local community.

They will be there from 10am until 2pm so come down and say hello. 🙂👋

26/11/2025

November is recognised as Men’s Health Awareness month.

This annual event is to highlight the challenges men face including mental health and cancer awareness.

〰️ Movember is a campaign you might be aware of which raises awareness for men’s health issues such as prostate and testicular cancer, su***de prevention and mental health.

More information can be found on their website:
https://uk.movember.com/

The Cancer Support Team have put together the following resource leaflet to show local and national support services for prostate cancer:

24/11/2025

November is Gastric Cancer Awareness Month.

Gastric Cancer is also known as Stomach Cancer. Around 6,600 people are diagnosed in the UK each year. Gastric cancer is more common in men than women.

Early gastric (stomach) cancer symptoms can include:

💜 Heartburn or acid reflux
💜 Having problems swallowing
💜 Feeling or being sick
💜 Feeling full very quickly when eating

Other symptoms can include:

💜Loss of appetite or losing weight without meaning to
💜 A lump at the top of your tummy
💜 A pain at the top of your tummy
💜 Feeling tired or having no energy

More information can be found on the NHS website: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stomach-cancer/symptoms/

If these symptoms change, worsen or do not feel usual for you or if they do not get better after three weeks, please visit your GP. 👩‍⚕️👨‍⚕️

The Cancer Support Team have put together the following resource leaflet for local and national support services:

19/11/2025

📣 November is Mouth Cancer Awareness Month.

Spotting mouth cancer early can give you a better chance of treating it. 😀👀

Symptoms to look out for are:

💙 A mouth ulcer in your mouth that lasts more than 3 weeks
💙 A red or white patch inside your mouth
💙 A lump insider your mouth or on your lip
💙 Pain inside your mouth
💙 Difficulty swallowing
💙 Difficulty speaking or a hoarse (croaky) voice
💙 A lump in your neck or throat
💙 Losing weight without meaning to

More information is available on the NHS website:
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/mouth-cancer/symptoms/

If you have any symptoms, please visit your GP.

The Cancer Support Team have put together the following resource leaflet for local and national support services:

17/11/2025

November is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month with World Pancreatic Cancer Day on Thursday 20th November.

Pancreatic Cancer UK have the useful poster below to help spot symptoms. Other symptoms can affect your digestion, such as:

💜 Indigestion
💜 Diarrhoea or constipation, or other changes in your poo
💜 Pain at the top part of your tummy and your back. This may feel worse when you are eating or lying down and feel better when you lean forward
💜 Feeling bloated

If you have another condition such as irritable bowel syndrome, you may get these symptoms often and you may get used to them.
It is important to be checked by a GP if your symptoms change, get worse or do no feel normal for you. Finding these symptoms early can mean it’s easier to treat.

More information can be found about symptoms of pancreatic cancer can be found at:
https://www.pancreaticcancer.org.uk/information/signs-and-symptoms-of-pancreatic-cancer/

13/11/2025

📣 Transgender Awareness Week (13th-19th November) is an opportunity to highlight the barriers that transgender, non-binary and gender-diverse people often face when accessing healthcare.

🏳️‍⚧️ Individuals from these communities may experience challenges such as fear of discrimination, misgendering, a lack of inclusive care, or not being invited to routine screenings- factors that can delay diagnosis and treatment.

Macmillan Cancer Support provides dedicated resources for transgender, non-binary, and gender diverse people:
https://www.macmillan.org.uk/cancer-information-and-support/impacts-of-cancer/transgender

There is more information on OUTpatients, the UK’s LGBTIQ+ cancer charity website. OUTpatients, the UK’s LGBTIQ+ cancer charity, offers further support, education and bespoke resources, with the aim of transforming cancer care to a more inclusive environment for everyone:

https://outpatients.org.uk/trans-and-nonbinary/

Read our information for transgender (trans) and non-binary people with questions about cancer screening, cancer risk or cancer treatment.

11/11/2025

🤍 🫁November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month. It is one of the most common types of cancer with more than 43,000 people diagnosed every year in the UK.

Symptoms can be hard to spot in the early stages but will eventually develop symptoms including:

🤍 A persistent cough
🤍 Coughing up blood
🤍 Persistent breathlessness
🤍 Unexplained tiredness and weight loss
🤍 An ache or pain when breathing or coughing

There is more information on the NHS website for symptoms of lung cancer:
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/lung-cancer/symptoms/

The Lung Cancer team here at Salisbury District Hospital are on hand to support our patients.

📣 Meet the team below– Lung pathway Navigator Chris Harrison CNS Ramya Giby, CNS Megan Haggerty, CNS Yam Thapa, and Lung Cancer admin Nisha Kugan who say; ‘We are all passionate about Lung Cancer and we work to ensure that we are there as a support system for our patients and their families’.
The service has gone through a lot of changes over the last few years, but we are all focused on ensuring we develop our service to improve the care and treatment our patients receive".

📚📖🎓As part of the team’s development and learning, CNS’ Megan and Ramya have recently successfully completed their PgCert in Cancer Care through Bristol University, and CNS Yam has successfully completed her master level module in The Principles of Lung Cancer Care through the Royal Marsden. 🥳

A recent patient experience survey has shown positive responses from patients about the service including feedback about the care patients have received from our team, such as one from a patient which said, “they were thankful for all the support that they had received and felt reassured that they felt they had someone there when they needed”.🤍

07/11/2025

🧡 ☀️ Shine Young Adult Support is a group for those diagnosed with cancer aged in their 20s, 30s and 40s to meet others with similar experiences in a relaxed environment.

They host regular meet ups with the next one on happening on Saturday 15th of November 2025. If you are interested in attending, the next event will be playing board games and having a drink, meeting at the Tabletop Tavern at 7pm. 📍

You can meet for a drink (first one is on Shine!) and some food and then join in with playing board games. 🍻🥂🍔🎲♟

If you are interested in attending, you can let Renee know by completing the form below so a table can be reserved:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd4gmrQtuVgnLG8bs200_6Rim9vy3BHgEouBYZsBCVzhSHLVg/viewform

You can drop her an email for more information at wiltshire@shinecancersupport.org

For more information on SHINE, please visit:
https://shinecancersupport.org/

05/11/2025

📣 This week (3-9th November) is Occupational Therapy week!

Meet one of our Occupational Therapists with The Cancer Therapy Team, Emma Gregory who says:

"I'm Emma Gregory and I am a Senior Occupational Therapist with The Cancer Therapy Team at Salisbury District Hospital based with our team at the Wessex Rehabilitation Centre.
My work with our cancer patients involves a holistic assessment on the functional impact of their cancer and the formulation of personalised care/what matters to me rehab goals from this assessment".

"Many cancer patients describe ‘falling of the radar’ after cancer treatment. I am passionate about supporting patients regain quality of life and return to meaningful activities.
This supports patients to ‘live well with their cancer’, to maintain independence and to stay connected with their family and friends. It is a privilege to be able to support patients in this way and to be able to ‘make a difference’ in patients’ lives".

The main areas of Occupational Therapy intervention to address this impact on occupational performance and function are:

💚 Symptom management advice – specifically fatigue, breathlessness, lymphoedema and pain.
💚 Equipment assessment and provision – to maintain functional independence and quality of life.
💚 Provision of support to achieve goals to return to and maintain ‘what matters to me’ activity – wide-ranging from dog walking to gardening.
💚 Support patients’ emotional needs whilst adjusting to living with cancer and signposting to additional support as appropriate.

More information can be found at:

https://www.salisbury.nhs.uk/wards-departments/departments/cancer-services/for-cancer-patients-families-and-carers/