{"id":251510,"date":"2026-01-18T18:51:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-18T18:51:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/251510\/"},"modified":"2026-01-18T18:51:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T18:51:07","slug":"cancer-charity-to-expand-nutrition-lessons-after-trial-cut-nhs-waiting-lists-cancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/251510\/","title":{"rendered":"Cancer charity to expand nutrition lessons after trial cut NHS waiting lists | Cancer"},"content":{"rendered":"

A leading cancer charity will offer nutrition lessons to patients across Great Britain after a trial showed the classes help them to negotiate the disease\u2019s dietary challenges \u2013 and cut NHS<\/a> waiting times.<\/p>\n

Many people with cancer find that the disease or their treatment changes the taste of their food<\/a>, dulls their appetite or leads to them losing weight.<\/p>\n

Maggie\u2019s cancer centres have been advising patients about food in a partnership with the Royal Marsden NHS foundation trust in London since 2020.<\/p>\n

It plans to extend its dietary support to anyone attending its 27 centres in Great Britain amid growing awareness of how good nutrition can help cancer patients cope with and recover from the disease and the effects of chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Maggie\u2019s centres in Manchester and Southampton also provide sessions, which often include cookery classes.<\/p>\n

The workshops \u2013 led by a cancer specialist dietitian \u2013 help patients by debunking popular myths about cancer and nutrition, such as that sugar \u201cfeeds\u201d and helps spread the disease and that they should avoid dairy products.<\/p>\n

Maggie\u2019s is urging Wes Streeting, the health secretary, to ensure the government\u2019s forthcoming cancer strategy encourages every NHS trust in England to collaborate with it after the Marsden found that the classes helped reduce waiting times to access its own nutrition service.<\/p>\n

Patients who previously faced a delay of several months to attend were instead referred to the sessions Maggie\u2019s instigated, which brought together 10-15 people at a time, which enabled those with more complex nutritional needs to be seen one-to-one by Marsden staff.<\/p>\n

Maggie\u2019s said: \u201cCancer treatments can impact appetite, tastes and nutritional needs and many people worry about what they should and shouldn\u2019t be eating during treatment and beyond.<\/p>\n

\u201cGroup nutritional workshops at Maggie\u2019s help people with cancer identify fact from fiction, encouraging them to follow a healthy, balanced diet but ultimately empowering them to make the best decisions for their individual needs,\u201d said Laura Lee, the charity\u2019s chief executive.<\/p>\n

In a plea to Streeting \u2013 who was treated for kidney cancer<\/a> in 2021 \u2013 Lee added: \u201cThis approach \u2026 is a win-win: people with cancer get timely, trusted nutrition support, which is vital, while the NHS benefits from reduced waiting lists.\u201d<\/p>\n

The national cancer plan for England is due to be published on 4 February, which is World Cancer Day.<\/p>\n

\u201cCancer can turn food and drink into a daily struggle. When appetite and taste change, or eating becomes uncomfortable, people can lose weight and feel too tired to cope\u201d, said Isobel Booth, head of health information at the World Cancer Research Fund.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany people experience major taste changes, sore mouths or no appetite at all, while others need help finding ways to increase calories and protein to stay strong during treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n

She welcomed Maggie\u2019s plans to expand its nutrition, cookery and myth-busting sessions. \u201cMisinformation is everywhere and when someone is going through cancer treatment or in recovery it\u2019s even more important to get it right.<\/p>\n

\u201cAppointment with NHS dieticians are in high demand, so support from charity services like these can be invaluable.\u201d Booth added that 98% of callers to the World Cancer Research Fund\u2019s cancer and nutrition helpline found it made them more confident managing their diet.<\/p>\n

Streeting believes charities can provide some healthcare in a more patient-friendly way than the NHS. He cited Maggie\u2019s as an example when talking to the media after a major speech<\/a> last year on health inequalities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe NHS should try to work in partnership better with charities. Sometimes, charities are better placed to deliver services and are more approachable. I think about Maggie\u2019s \u2026 that supports people with cancer and their families, you go in, it\u2019s warm, it\u2019s welcoming.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t feel like you are in a clinical service. They would never describe themselves as a service. And whenever I go into one I think everyone should have this, but I\u2019m glad they\u2019re providing it, not the state.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cally Palmer, the Marsden\u2019s chief executive and a former NHS England cancer director, said its nutritional and diet support service alongside Maggie\u2019s had helped ensure \u201chealthier long-term outcomes form patients.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are delighted that it will now be extended to other Maggie\u2019s centres to benefit cancer patients across the UK.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A leading cancer charity will offer nutrition lessons to patients across Great Britain after a trial showed the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":251511,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[103,397,396,61,60],"class_list":{"0":"post-251510","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-health-care","10":"tag-healthcare","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251510"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251510\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}