Macmillan Cancer Support Avis 

I am sure that there will be many people who may have good experiences of Macmillan nurses ,I sadly did not. My mother was diagnosed with liver cancer in June 2022 she was told that a Mac nurse would be assigned to her and eventually she was visited by one of the nurses and she did sort out the paperwork for medication at home and what my mother wanted for end of life treatment and said that she would be in contact with the family regularly both visiting and phone calls and if we wanted anything she gave us the contact number to get hold of her. My mother did not receive many visits even when I requested them because neither my mother, father or myself knew what was normal or abnormal for the disease so needed to know if what my mum was experiencing was normal. Getting in contact had to be through a receptionist so you may be a long time for a response, mum had three different Mac nurses the first was quite helpful, the second treated us as though we were a nuisance and was quite rude to mum and dad and the third tried to be helpful but only from 8 till 4 Monday to Friday if you were lucky. The last two weeks of mum's life were full of pain and suffering and if it had not been for one great district nurse who was there at the time mum needed help the most and arranged for mum to go into a hospice for the last four days of her life she would have died without help. What people believe a Macmillan nurse does is influenced by adverts which I believe misinform you. They may have been nurses before Macmillan but are really just form fillers and organisers who want the regular hours of 8 till 4 Mon to Fri and it will depend on the individual as to the quality of assistance you receive. I was extremely disappointed with Macmillan and would never donate to them.

My partner of 26 years died in October from stage 4 lung cancer. Unfortunately, he spent most of his final weeks in hospital. It was not the end of life care we hoped for, my partner was very unhappy with his care. Macmillan did get involved, their department was attached to the Respiratory ward. They offered very little support, were most definitely not at all helpful or present. I have had no contact with them since my partner passed away. Not even their condolences or a courtesy phone call. I have heard similar experiences from other people with one exception in London. I did consider complaining but thought I would simply get a half hearted apology and excuses so didn't bother.

I used the support forum for a while but based on interactions with Macmillan I no longer participate or contribute any money to this organisation. Lots of issues & I believe it’s lost a lot of focus.my needs not met, shameful but I am not the only one to say that

Having a diagnosis of late stage 3 cancer my experience of MacMillan nurses is that they have never been able to answer any of my questions. I did have a tissue shoved under my nose when I wasn't tearful but medical questions are always unanswered. They suggest saving the question until I have an appointment with a doctor! Unqualified care staff do this element of the work far better than the nurses. I can’t see what purpose they serve. However, it seems a rich charity so maybe it’s a self-serving purpose. I’ve never talked to a person with cancer who has had a positive experience of them. Shameful. Furthermore they give the GP the impress that your needs are met so it’s then actually harder to get the GP involved as they suggest using MacMillan!!!

Just pay NHS nurses, who are properly managed and supervised. This charity seems to take from the NHS not add to it.

Reading the reviews it would seem important to audit them better.

When , they told me that my mum would die , having her half a leg of from gangrene or foot of and that she would not survive the operation, which I never believed for a minute, they gave up and put her in Macmillan to die anyway, which didn't make any sense, then when my mum was lying down with only one pillow I told them she won't sleep like that , she neads two pillows , because she gets scared thinking her heart will stop , and at home she likes two pillows, the nurse or staff member or woman in charge which I think she was , said well she is not at home anymore is she . And walked away wow I thought, it made me angry don't bey all the bull that they say , and also I said she is diabetic and needs her meds , they didn't like that , they , seem to me and said to me that it would be delaying things , discussing my mum ever whispered, to me they are killing, me in hear with the meds . To be honest I would not trust them infact my mum would still be alive today if they had taken her foot of , a load of rubbish, my mum lived for 3 weeks , but the medication they give you truly does kill you you just sleep and sleep and sleep ,they just give up on you at a certain age even the nhs could not be bothered , I know if that was me my mum would have said I want her to have the opp . I'm angi at two lots of people now the Macmillan for being arshols and uncaring , and the nhs . Mum worked all her life , walked to work every day and back , and for what . To be honest I was discussed with what that woman said to me , well she isn't at home anymore is she , I could have punched her , which I should have done , never forget my mum telling me I carnt sleep lying flat , I want the pillow up and always pointing out I nead the two ., and I never will forget , what that woman said , andi will warn everyone how uncaring they really are , callus! Also on the TV was the queen salebraiting the jubelee, or her birthday as if my mum wants to watch the queen salebraiting and brought a flag in honestly , talk about rubbing salt in the wound . So my mum has the queen on the TV when I walked in , I mean are they so stupid. Honestly still carnt get my head around it. I carnt put the right dait on because this won't let me but, you will all know the day .

Had an extremely bad experience with them giving them 1 star was very hard but was must in order to let everyone know that due to the lack of communication i have today lost my mother, she had the ability to survive but the support I anticipated was not forthcoming during that crucial time. It would be immensely beneficial for the organization to review their processes in responding to urgent situations and ensure that individuals in distress receive more immediate and tailored support. Improving the accessibility and responsiveness of support services could greatly assist families dealing with similar challenging circumstances.

No help offered! told to just get on with looking after my dying Dad! found Macmillan nurses very uncaring and inconsiderate! same with my Mum!

EDIT - The letters did finally stop. It's so unfortunate that it seems, increasingly so, that only formal complaints and public shaming achieves results these days.

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My mother supported Macmillan.

When she died, of breast cancer ironically, I wrote to ask that they stop writing to her.

No acknowledgement was received but they continued sending their begging letters, addressed to my dead Mum.

I returned all of them. Marked politely at first, "Deceased", then "SHE IS DEAD! STOP WRITING!!"

Letters continued.

I then wrote directly to Gemma Peters, the CEO, using Special Delivery. I didn't even receive the courtesy of a response. Yes, you guessed it, the letters continue.

What sort of callous indifference is required for a cancer charity to persist in writing to a woman who died of cancer 17 months ago when asked, many times, to stop.
Have they no shame?

I have cancelled my own DD to them and will in future support Marie Currie instead.

I am utterly disgusted.

Adverts don't tell the truth waist of space

Large areas of country not covered at all. On appointment with liver specialist who had a Macmillan nurse in with him we were handed a large pack with info on various Macmillan services. I wasted valuable time wading through it several things would have been useful but when I rang in I was told Macmillan have no funding to operate in Essex. At the next appointment with specialist I said what is point of giving out info pack when none of it bar benefits check available the surgeon was unaware that it was not available. The Macmillan nurse said some of it available and had access to her said only benefit check and not told how to contact you and when didn't reply and pushed said available at appointments only. The appointments were taken up with discussion on treatment options with specialist no time for anything else. We struggled on with no help from anyone when I finally got to speak to the GP he too was under the impression that care was being delivered by Macmillan. Not only were Macmillan useless by giving impression that offering a service delayed us getting help elsewhere.once we'd established Macmillan doing nothing the GP thought we were getting hospice at home from them GP stepped in with pain relief and palliative care from district nursing team ... Macmillan are giving the impression of service by maintaining one nurse you can't contact at Chelmsford and Essex hospital and nothing else so they can get funding for it.

I do feel the need to say macmillan didn't help me at all. I phoned the helpline in tears because I didn't know how I was going to pay the rent that month. I was told to attend my local centre which I did. I sat again in tears, I waited 45 minutes to speak to someone, and no there's no help for me. This was over 4 years ago, I took a loan out which I'm still paying off. I had to work full time through my chemo, surgery and radiotherapy, they are no use at all for people who have to live in the real world. I'm now wracked with pain, and can't walk. I'm sure it's because I had no choice but to work through my treatment

Never returned calls. Lied about sending letter regarding important information e.g treatment start date, time and place where the treatment would be held.
When I eventually got hold of a nurse she was rude and upset me, not sure how to bypass them?

Started off with a strong start receiving the grant and I had a home visit from a lovely nurse that was very kind and uplifting.
Then it was all downhill from there, I have no idea when they're going to call next it is always at random. I haven't had the same nurse so it's Russian roulette as to whether I get someone nice or mean. The nurse I got yesterday was dismissive, did not listen, and had zero empathy or patience. It's supposed to be an advice and support service both of which I was not given by this nurse.
I don't understand how other people have Macmillan nurses at their appointments because this nurse was appalled I even enquired because this is something they "ABSOLUTELY DO NOT DO". Okay, sorry for asking?
I cried the rest of the day and genuinely feel like giving up. Cancer is tough but being spoken to rudely and treated like a burden by trained professionals I have been led to believe are there to help only compounds those negative feelings.
I understand compassionate fatigue is a real thing among nurses but it does not excuse taking it out on vulnerable people like myself who are comparatively in a more difficult position.

Macmillan don’t do what they say they do, they are for the patient and family however in my experience they were useless. Didn’t help my daughter when she was extremely ill the service got worse once she passed away.

They didn’t help my daughter or the family and what makes it worse is the fact I have raised a complaint and they are trying to brush it under the carpet.

I reviewed MacMillan nurse already, but my experience of second nurse is just as bad. I’m going through secondary breast cancer.

My first MacMillan nurse had no people skills, and quite frankly sounded either drunk or on medication. The second one never rang me back. I never really burdened the nurses, just wanted information about follow up appointments etc.

I understand the consultant can’t answer all questions, and sometimes you can’t think of the questions in the consultation appointment. But surely this is why MacMillan come in? But if they don’t ring you back and help ease anxiety, what is the point of them?

The amount of time I have spent on the chasing up of scans and wondering what’s going on with my treatment has caused me a lot of stress, but MacMillan aren’t there at all. They tell you to ring the consultant’s secretary, and the secretary tells you to ring the nurse.

WHAT DO THEY ACTUALLY DO?

The services that Macmillan used to provide were second to none but now their Services are not worth having. That don't return calls or show any interest. This is a charity that has outgrown it's usefulness and thinks it can survive on its old reputation. I have now changed my will and won't leave them a penny. They cause more pain than it's worth.

I tap Macmillan nurses reviews on search as like someone other people here described feeling it’s their fault. The way I have been treating and spoken in few occasions it felt like I stub now dredging calling as it’s like Russian roulette, when is bad it’s really bad.
I had mastectomy 2month a go after I was diagnosed with two different tumours on my right breast.
I called with 4 questions for the first time after the opposition.
I have to fly abroad and need to know how my temporary prosthetic breast is going to be effected as still tender, as well about alternative medication and the effects that may have on the tamoxifen. I was made feel that I’m wasting their time with questions saying check the leaflet as they like to refer often but do not cover.
Feeling trapped with illness and unsupportive “support “ it’s so disheartening.

This is about a Mcmillan nurse. It has taken me over 2 years to post this as I thought my problem with Mcmillan was more to do with me and my grief, but all these negative reviews posted since then and Mcmillan's rather patronising "seek bereavement counselling" replies to those posts has convinced me that my resentment is not grief related. My experience is that on being allocated a Mcmillan nurse you are given all the Mcmillcan leaflets and told that they are the go to person, but when you go to that person, they are worse than useless. I accept that for some queries they may need to signpost but I found that for questions such as regards cancer spread I was signposted to A&E, 111, a GP or at worst 'off the top of the head advice'. When I could get hold of her I felt fobbed off and my concerns of spread (which were found to be correct) were dismissed - over a 4 month period. I will never forgive Mcmillan, even though it is just a funded post within the NHS, they are working in the name of Mcmillan and represent themselves as being the 'go to' person for advice. Their adverts make me sick to the stomach. Avoid at all costs

My husband has terminal cancer. Four different Macmillan nurses came and then disappeared. No one has been in touch for months. There are days when I feel like I'm drowning and nowhere to turn. Don't bother with these people it's a waste of time.

The Macmillan Nurce was miss leading. Not being honest to me. I had to ignore her.