THE UK’S two largest breast cancer charities have joined forces with York Hospital in a pioneering programme to improve services for those with secondary breast cancer.

Breakthrough Breast Cancer and Breast Cancer Care will now work with York Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust, which includes Scarborough, to improve services for patients whose primary breast cancer has spread to another part of the body. Jackie Frazer, Macmillan advanced clinical nurse specialist at the trust, said: “The aim of this work is to use patient and staff feedback to inform improvements to the support and services we provide for patients with secondary breast cancer.

“We hope that this will make a real difference to breast cancer patients in both Scarborough and York Hospitals.”

According to the new partnership, secondary breast cancer patients often do not get the same level of service as those with primary breast cancer and many do not have either the support of a key worker or of palliative care services.

The Department of Health-funded programme launched in March with a training day for nurses from York Hospital and Scarborough Hospital.

York and Scarborough are part of an initial rollout of five hospitals across the UK, with the programme being introduced into a further ten over the next three years.

Liz Carroll, assistant director of services at Breast Cancer Care, said: “So many women tell us that the support they had when diagnosed and treated for primary breast cancer just isn’t there after a secondary breast cancer diagnosis.

“With new, improved treatments many of those diagnosed with secondary breast cancer can live for months and sometimes years with the disease but have very specific needs.

“They may be dealing with ongoing side effects of treatment, living with uncertainty about the future and face difficult decisions about end-of-life care.”