Lincolnshire hospitals bosses urged struggling patients to get in touch after a councillor’s “heartbreaking” case where a cancer patient refused life-prolonging treatment due to a lack of service access.
Lincolnshire County Councillor Katie Chalmers told the authority’s Health Scrutiny Committee about the resident during a discussion on elective care waiting times on Wednesday.
She said the patient, who lived near Skegness, was on long-term palliative care after being diagnosed with cancer and had been offered treatment to help him live a longer life despite being unable to recover.
“He’s chosen not to have that treatment on the basis of the fact that it can’t be administered at Skegness and he doesn’t have the funds to get into a proper hospital to where the appointments are,” said Councillor Chalmers.
“Not everybody sits on that red line where they get free transport, and people are making these decisions as to where to spend his money.”
She said travelling to and from the nearest facility (Lincoln or Grantham) would take the patient an entire day and cost £60 on a taxi because they don’t drive.
“That’s a really shocking position for somebody to say ‘I can’t afford it, if I spend that money on this, I can’t switch the heating on,'” she added.
“I found it quite heartbreaking really.”
Michelle Harries, Chief Operating Officer at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust, said staff were “doing an awful lot of work” to understand patient needs, including a Patient Engagement Group.
“We are working very closely to make sure those patients who live quite rural – and where treatment is minimal in terms of its ability to be delivered and monitored – we’re working with them to say right, we can get you transport, don’t worry about the cost, your treatment is more important.
“We know those patients, we know them very well and there’s some very personal dialogue that’s occurred.”
She hoped Councillor Chalmer’s resident was being supported by that work and urged them to get in touch.
“Transport should not be a dis-enabler to allow that patient the treatment they required,” she said.
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