Leighton Macmillan Centre
Head and Neck Cancer Support Group
We’d like to tell you about a
brand new group for readers
in Cheshire. The Head and
Neck Cancer Support Group
meets at Macmillan cancer
centre in the Leighton
Hospital in Crewe. It’s been
set up by Macmillan Head
and Neck Clinical Nurse
Specialist, Margaret Doyle.
The group isn’t just for head and neck
cancer patients themselves. As Margaret
explains, “It’s actually a support group for
anyone who’s affected, whether that’s the
patient themselves, their family or their
carers.”
Members can look forward to a friendly
and informative gathering every month.
Group meetings will feature plenty of guest
speakers, and there are already plans in
the pipeline for future events. In March the
group gave their support to the Macmillan
charity day at Rudyard lake – and enjoyed
a few tours around the water by good old
fashioned steam engine too.
20 THE VOICE | Autumn 2011
An active membership
It sounds like that’s going to be part of the
fun of this group. As well as all the guest
speakers and events, members are already
very active – exchanging lots of useful
information and supporting each other
through their respective journeys post
larngectomy. Other commitments allowing,
there’ll usually be plenty of staff available
too – all people that Leighton patients will
know well. Dietician, Vicki Shepley and
ENT PA, Ann Williams were both present at
January’s get-together.
Margaret was kind enough to give us a
full briefing on January’s meeting to give
us an idea of the typical format; there was
certainly lots going on – and lots of useful
information to be had. Indeed, members
look set to benefit from plenty of useful
‘behind-the-scenes’ type insights from staff
and guest speakers.
January’s event certainly featured a very
lively guest speaker session from Miss A.F.
Dingle, Consultant ENT Surgeon. She gave
a very informative talk about how the
cancer service is set up and its involvement
with other hospital s. Putting the service
in context she explained how surgery for
cancer patients is now routinely performed
at large Tertiary Centres, making best use
of the expertise of several surgeons and
support staff – whilst still relying on a