Supporting our patients in a cost of living crisis

As a social worker, working to support patients and their families I see the very real impact the current energy and financial crisis is having on a daily basis.

We work to support people when they are most vulnerable and in recent months the increase in patients and their families getting into real financial difficulty is significant.

When patients come to us, not only do they require support and care for a life limiting illness or condition but also have the additional worry of how they are going to pay fuel bills, buy food and access transport for hospital appointments which for many of our patients includes their trips for chemotherapy. These challenges are now further impacted by decisions they have to make due to the cost of living crisis.

Patients and their families are looking at ways of saving money on basic items and treats for birthdays and Christmas are being given up in order to provide heat and fuel.

When a patient is no longer able to work, due to their ill health, they and the ones they love are increasingly finding themselves in real hardship situations.

Increases in costs are affecting people I work with in our community

I am working with one carer whose week consists of going to the foodbank each week. Her partner is no longer able to work and using the foodbank is the only way she can now stretch their limited income to feed their family.

Another carer that I work with has had to limit the number of times she visits her loved one who now resides in a care home due to the cost of travel, reducing these costs helps to cover costs for food.

The increased cost for funerals is another impact on the families we support. I have more and more discussions about the best ways to reduce the cost of the funeral, this comes from patients who are aware of the financial impact on their loved ones and families who just can’t find the money.

How we are finding ways to support low income families

As professionals working with patients diagnosed with cancer, we are able to access grants from Macmillan for those on low income and limited savings. The number of requests we are receiving for those grants are not only increasing, but also the nature of need is more and more often energy bill, food and basic needs. A recent application was to purchase a washing machine for a large family who could not afford to replace or repair their broken machine as money was being prioritised for heating.

Being part of the hospice Multi-Disciplinary team, I feel pride that we are able to wrap a whole range of care and support around the families we work with and to see the impact the financial burden can have at a time when the families focus should be on patient care is heart breaking.

The family support team, of which I am proud to be part of, have worked really hard over the last few months to bring together as many resources and information that we can. One colleague has complied a finance directory, we have signed up to Macmillan to access grants and review all patients to ensure correct access to relevant benefits are made.

But still more is needed. Referrals to foodbanks and discussions in team meetings to see how we address supporting basic needs such as getting the laundry washed and keeping the home warm are now a regular occurrence.

As times get harder we are trying to find more creative ways to way to support our patients and their families to meet their basic needs of food and warmth.