Caithness cancer patients get home heat handouts
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EIGHT cancer patients in Caithness have had to get charity handouts to help them heat their homes.
Macmillan Cancer Support confirmed that a total of £5700 was awarded in financial grants to 16 cancer patients in Caithness. Half of them were given the money to help pay rising energy bills.
The charity said it is "shocking" that people with the disease have to get help to keep warm.
None of the local patients involved were prepared to speak to North of Scotland Newspapers about their plight. But Elspeth Atkinson, the director of Macmillan Cancer Support for Scotland and Northern Ireland, said it is "unacceptable" that cancer patients who can’t afford to heat their homes due to rising fuel bills are increasingly relying on charity handouts to keep warm.
"To feel too scared to put the heating on because of soaring energy bills is an unacceptable reality for thousands of vulnerable cancer patients who feel the cold more and spend long periods of time at home," she said. "When our charity was established 100 years ago, founder Douglas Macmillan helped cancer patients by handing out sacks of coal. It is shocking that a century on people diagnosed with this devastating disease are still relying on charity help to heat their freezing homes."
Ms Atkinson explained that when someone is diagnosed with cancer, their income often drops because they are too ill to work.
"Seven in 10 people under 55 experience a reduced income, losing on average 50 per cent.However, their bills often rise because they need to spend more time at home and feel the chill more because of their treatment. Despite the impact fuel poverty has on cancer patients, few of them benefit from Government and energy companies’ schemes.
"We are calling for the ongoing Independent Fuel Poverty Review to prioritise cancer patients for help and for more to be done to ensure cancer patients are lifted out of fuel poverty."
Caithness Cancer Support Group chairwoman Frances Purves supported the calls for extra funding to patients, saying that it isn’t acceptable for them to have to rely on charity handouts.
"In the past if you had medical problems you were given an extra heating benefits allowance, but that stopped a long time ago," said Ms Purves. "The call for more to be done to help cancer patients out of fuel poverty is one that I would support. The extra money would certainly help a lot of patients to keep their homes warm in the face of rising fuel costs.
"Those who are diagnosed with cancer do tend to be affected by cold temperatures more than others, and the extra financial help would be one less worry during what is an already stressful time in their lives."
The latest grants awarded by Macmillan helped to meet the cost of rising energy bills but the money can also be used to pay other domestic expenses and to make life more comfortable for cancer patients. Across the UK, the charity is giving out almost twice as much in grants to help patients heat their homes as it did five years ago.
To find out about the help available to cancer patients, or to make a donation to support Macmillan’s work, call freephone 0808 808 0000 or visit www.macmillan.org.uk
