Allied Health Professionals Day

Our day-to-day clinical role is to support cancer patients with their nutritional wellbeing. We also signpost patients to additional sources of support for their physical, mental, and emotional health needs.

It is a common misconception that as dietitians we only give healthy eating or weight management advice to patients. We love the diversity of our roles, working in a holistic way to support patients pre-, on and post- treatment, as well as in palliative care. We are well-trained to accommodate not only the physical consequences of cancer and its treatments on eating and drinking, but also the psycho-social aspects of people’s diets, eating patterns and behaviour.

We appreciate the safety that patients feel when you say you are a Macmillan professional. It is reassuring for us to know that patients immediately feel they are in professional and safe hands when we introduce ourselves and we feel honoured to carry the Macmillan name.

AHP day is a great day to remind us of who we are and what a powerful force of difference we make in healthcare for the improvement of patients’ lives. Most people are aware of the roles of doctors and nurses, but not as many people are aware of what dietitians, occupational therapists, physiotherapists and speech and language therapists do.

My name is Claire Traub and I work as a Macmillan Specialist Occupational Therapist in supportive and palliative care at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge.

Day to day I work with patients and their families in clinic or virtually supporting them with fatigue management strategies, breathlessness management strategies, sleep management, anxiety management, adapting roles and routines, values-based goal setting and equipment provision as needed. I also work in the Breathlessness Intervention Service which engages people with chronic breathlessness in non-pharmacological self-management strategies. In this AHP-led service I work with other Occupational Therapists and Physiotherapists and visit people in their own homes to support breathlessness management through strategies such as breathing retraining and breathing exercises, anxiety management including relaxation and mindfulness, and support patients to exercise or be more active including graded activity and goal setting.

Although challenging at times, the work is incredibly rewarding and I truly believe that making small changes with someone for them to be able to engage in meaningful activity can have a profound impact on their quality of life.

I have been a Macmillan Professional for just over 5 years and have found the support from Macmillan so helpful in both my daily roles and work with patients, and also my career development. I have completed a range of online and face-to-face training through their dedicated education hub. This was especially helpful around the Covid-19 pandemic when communication went from being predominantly in person to almost exclusively virtual, and the communication training and support offered was really tailored and supportive. I have also applied for and been granted Macmillan funding to complete a post-graduate level course in managing fatigue, which I successfully completed this year.

My name is Nicola Chesman and I’m a Macmillan Specialist Physiotherapist in Supportive Oncology at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester, a specialist cancer centre. This is a new role, made possible with Macmillan support.

My role is 50% clinical, working predominantly in Supportive Care outpatient clinics and providing physio treatment and advice to people presenting with varied physical and functional problems, during and after cancer. The other 50% of the job involves teaching and supporting others in their physiotherapy management of Supportive Care patients, including on inpatient wards or in the community.

I very much enjoy my role. It’s an area where I feel I can make a significant positive difference, and the best part of my day is hearing that my input has helped ease someone’s symptoms or improved their quality of life. Whether that’s giving a crutch or a sling to someone with joint pain or improving someone’s balance to give them the confidence to leave the house again. I’ve also had feedback that patients feel listened to and understood and are happy that physio provides them with something they can do themselves to try to improve their condition.

For me, AHP Day is an opportunity to celebrate the work of AHPs, and their importance across health and social care. I think the public don’t have as clear an understanding of what we do compared to other professionals such as nurses and doctors, so AHP Day is a chance to group together, raise awareness and be proud of what we do and how we contribute to society.

My name is Sabina Khan and I am a Macmillan Consultant Head and Neck Therapeutic Radiographer specialising in head and neck late effects at University College London Hospitals. Providing a service in London means we see a rich and diverse demographic of patients who have been treated for cancer. I am particularly interested in health inequality and so am passionate that we aim to deliver a service that provides equitable treatment regardless of a patient’s background.

A common misconception is that we are “just a bunch of button pushers” – we’re not! Therapeutic Radiographers are responsible for scanning, planning, delivering and assessing the consequences of radiation treatment. As a therapeutic radiographer you get to see patients 5 days a week for up to 7 weeks. We get to build a rapport with them, learn about their families, hobbies and how they are coping. They’re not just patients, they’re people. It is a privilege and unique opportunity to hear their stories.

I support patients post-treatment who may no longer have any evidence of the disease but who are left with life-altering consequences as a result of treatment. Along with other members of the multi-disciplinary team, we provide personalised care to meet the needs of patients. It gives us an opportunity to listen to what’s important to the patient – not what we think is important. This can be physical, social or psychological. For us it’s not just about living, it’s about living well with good quality of life.

As Macmillan Speech and Language Therapists, our role is to assess, rehabilitate and support people living with cancer who are experiencing difficulties with communication, swallowing, jaw opening and secretion management, secondary to their diagnosis or treatments.

We are excited to highlight our role on AHPs day and share the positive impact we can have on quality of life in areas which many of us often take for granted. This might include helping people to communicate their wishes or making swallowing more comfortable and enjoyable. We can help people at any stage of their cancer journey, including those in end-of-life care.

We are proud to be Macmillan professionals and are grateful for the resources we can share with our patients and for the educational support we receive to improve patient care. Macmillan have also supported our Trust to build an AHP multi-disciplinary team (made up of Speech and Language Therapists, Physiotherapists, dietitians, and occupational therapists to provide holistic and collaborative support, that will in turn provide best practice in cancer care for our patients.