Helping you feel stronger, healthier and more prepared
Our cancer rehabilitation service – sometimes called prehabilitation – supports your physical and emotional wellbeing before treatment starts.
You’ll get personalised advice and support from our team of dietitians, physiotherapists, exercise specialists and occupational therapists. Together, we’ll help you:
Your consultant or clinical nurse specialist (CNS) can talk to you about prehabilitation and refer you to the team. If appropriate, we’ll contact you directly to arrange an initial appointment.
To help you manage your diagnosis and treatment
People affected by cancer may face a range of psychological and social challenges. These may include things like emotional distress and changes to how you think about yourself, impact on your relationships and social functioning, worries about work, and financial difficulties.
Here for you
Maggie’s is an award-winning centre on the grounds of St Bartholomew’s Hospital. It offers free emotional, practical and social support for anyone affected by cancer, their family and their friends.
Run by cancer support specialists with expert knowledge of treatment and care, the centre provides a calm space away from clinical areas.
You can drop in for a chat, join a support group, or take part in helpful workshops.
To offer you personalised care and support
As part of the cancer team at Barts Health we have Macmillan cancer support workers who work alongside our specialist nurses and consultants. They support people who have a cancer diagnosis, are currently undergoing treatment, and those patients who are living with or beyond cancer.
Macmillan also offers holistic needs assessments where you can discuss your wider care, including:
Visit a Macmillan cancer support centre
Through a range of complementary therapies
These are designed to help you relax and manage symptoms including constipation, pain, insomnia, fatigue, breathlessness, muscular aches and anxiety.
We offer:
Referrals can be made by your key worker, nurse specialist or any member of your medical team.
Phone: 020 8539 5522 and use extension 5840.
The service is free of charge. If you would like to support the service, donations can be made to Special Purpose Fund 8404 at Barts Charity.
Throughout your care
And up to a year after your treatment has been completed. Our team of psychotherapists, psychiatrists and psychologists work closely with your doctors and nurses.
We support you to:
Share your experience through patient support groups
We run a number of support groups for people affected by cancer. These offer you a chance to meet others going through similar treatment, share experiences, and learn more about your condition.
Many of our clinical nurse specialists (CNS) lead support groups for their patients. Speak to your CNS to find out which groups might be right for you.
The following information is provided to newly diagnosed cancer patients at St Bartholomew's Hospital. However, many of the documents are relevant to patients being treated at our other hospitals.
The packs, which cover things like financial support and talking therapies, are usually provided by your clinical team, but you can also download all of the documents here.
Additional support, such as support groups and classes, are available on this page.
