CANCER patients in Worcestershire are set to receive support to deal with the psychological effects of their illness for the first time.

Worcestershire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust has been awarded £18,582 from the Christopher Whipp charitable fund to run a pilot psycho-oncology service research project for 12 months, starting this month.

Up until now, there have been no dedicated services in the county to deal with the psychological problems cancer patients may suffer when coming to terms with issues such as disfigurement.

Psychiatrists from the trust will initially target patients coping with head and neck tumours - which are particularly disfiguring kinds.

If successful, it could then be applied to other patients of other types of cancers.

The service will include educating medical and nursing staff about the psychological needs of cancer patients, screening patients for psychological problems and providing appropriate psychological and medical treatment.

Dr Ros Keeton, chief executive of the mental health trust, said for some years it had been apparent that there was a growing need and demand for psychological support for patients with medical and surgical problems.

"The National Institute for Clinical Excellence guidelines have highlighted the need for psychological support to cancer patients," she said "Although a significant proportion of cancer patients suffer from psychological issues, often their problems are not addressed appropriately due to a lack of established dedicated services.

"Psychologists and psychiatrists from the trust have taken a proactive approach in developing a pilot psycho-oncology service in Worcestershire to address the unmet needs of cancer patients."

The project will be co-ordinated by Dr Uttam Shiralkar, consultant psychiatrist, and Martin Willmott, chief psychologist at the trust.

Janice Kerr, head of cancer services for the Worcestershire Acute Hospital NHS Trust, said: "This is an excellent joint development starting with a small pilot group of patients with specific cancers, where surgery may lead to disfigurement. However, we are hoping to extend the project and the benefits in the longer term to other cancer patients."

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