I AM personally aware of the excellent work done in the NHS and my life was saved by caring medical people.

Please do not take this letter as a general criticism of the NHS, but as words for thought, that sometimes there may be a better way.

A close friend had progressive weakness for seven months following successful treatment for breast cancer. A GP finally took on board this deterioration and a subsequent diagnosis of lung cancer was made.

She feared the worst but her hopes were raised when she was told the tumour in her lung could be removed via keyhole surgery and she should make a full recovery.

She was sent for a scan a week before Christmas.

I received a phone call from my very distressed friend on December 23. She had received a call that day to say the scan had shown other lumps in the lung and flecks in her liver and no operation could take place. She would be offered palliative care. This was two days before Christmas.

She saw her consultant 10 days later and texted me these words that same day: “Bad news told, reeling from shock, a few months left, treatment not an option. Liver affected.”

Two days later she texted: “Weekend a nightmare, everything slipping away now with no more hope to cling to...”

So let’s consider a different scenario: a phone call on December 27 saying the scan results are in and an appointment made to discuss them.

At the appointment the consultant tells her of the scan results and that an operation will not be possible and no treatment can be offered, apart from some medication which may help.

Unbeknown to my friend, this medication would be a placebo and indeed it would help. It would keep alive a small flicker of hope. That hope would give a reason to get up each morning, to try and eat, to maybe take a little exercise and undertake the tasks of everyday life.

With a little more consideration, the shock and mental anguish suffered by my friend would have been just a little easier to bear, and that small flicker of hope would not have been extinguished.

I know the NHS staff and resources are stretched. With all the progress made in medical treatment, I wonder if the patient, as an individual person, has somehow, in some cases, become a little forgotten.

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