Frequently Asked Questions

This section contains questions that are frequently asked by patients, carers and health care professionals, along with the appropriate answer.

Please fill in the form in the Contact section if you have a question that you think would be of help to others.

What is PPI

PPI Stands for Patient & Public Involvement .

It means Patients, Carers and Members of the Public working with thoise involved in providing cancer services to improve the quality of those services.

What is Palliative Care?

Palliative Care is an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problem associated with life threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification, impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems physical, psychological and spiritual."

The aim of palliative care is to achieve the best quality of life possible for patients and their families whose disease is not responsive to curative treatment.

What is Oncology?

Oncology is the branch of medicine that deals with cancers, including the study of their development, diagnosis, treatment and prevention.

What exactly do Macmillan nurses do? Why do they not provide hands-on nursing support?

Macmillan nurses are specially trained to help people with cancer, their carers and families by providing:

pain and symptom relief
information about cancer treatments and side effects
an opportunity to discuss problems, feelings and future plans
advice to other members of the caring team, for example district nurses and Marie Curie nurses.

What each nurse does will depend on the role she is employed to do. In Northern Ireland there are a wide variety of Macmillan nurses including:

Breast Care
Lung Cancer specialist
Children's nurse specialists
Gynaecological nurse specialists
Head and neck nurse specialist
Palliative care nurse specialists

They are employed to make the best use of their skills and to offer more specialist help and advice to patients with cancer. This work is in addition to that of general nursing staff who provide day-to-day care for a wide range of patients in hospitals and elsewhere. In general, therefore, Macmillan nurses do not carry out routine nursing tasks, such as personal hygiene, changing dressings, giving medicines etc.

Will a cure ever be found?

There are many research projects worldwide looking at how to treat, cure and prevent cancer.

Modern cancer research is focused on finding out which buttons to press. The next generation of cancer treatments will be aimed at devising molecular tool-kits capable of fixing the damaged genes in cancer cells.

What should I do if I have a problem with a piece of equipment that my district nurse has supplied?

The district nurse should supply a contact name and telephone number in the event of any problem arising. You should also have been given an information leaflet providing details for using electrical equipment during a power cut or breakdown. If you still have problems please access your district nurse via your health centre or out of hours service.

What is the difference between Macmillan, Marie Curie and Northern Ireland Hospice Care?

Marie Curie Cancer Care and Macmillan Cancer Relief are UK wide charities and Northern Ireland Hospice Care is a Northern Ireland based charity.

Essentially they are all involved in cancer care and provide a range of services to improve the quality of life for those patients and families living with cancer.

For specific details of the services each organisation offers please visit their websites.

How can I share other people's stories and experiences?

You may find our directory of services useful in helping you find a support group where you can meet other people.

The 'Share' section of the Macmillan website contains stories and experiences from patients, supporters, health professionals and family members and friends. Click here to visit the Macmillan website.

In addition, a new website was launched in 2007 where patients and carers can share their experiences of cancer

and offer each other support. Click here to visit TalkingCancer.org.

You may also find it helpful to read 'Personal experiences' on this website. If you have a personal experience that you would like to share with others through this website, email it to us.

How can I tell the children?

Marie Curie produces the following booklets in order to help you tell the children: