I’m Craig, and I commenced my role as CHECT’s Head of Support in May this year. I know many of you have a long-standing relationship with CHECT and its people; and I’m really looking forward to being part of that team and getting to know you.
I live in Scotland, half an hour south of Glasgow, in Ayrshire, and will be home based there with travel to the two treatment hospitals and our office. I am a therapeutic radiographer by background and qualified at Glasgow Caledonian University. During my radiotherapy training, I spent half of my 4 years in the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre. The Beatson is a world class cancer hospital and provided me with a really full training experience. As time passed however, I realised I wanted to diversify from technical treatment delivery and specialise in patient support. From there, I was appointed as a Cancer Support Specialist at Macmillan Jersey and enjoyed providing support services to islanders affected by cancer – as well living in what I still deem to be one of the most beautiful places in the world. I then returned to the UK to take up my role as Cancer Information and Support Specialist Radiographer at Macmillan Cancer Support – working across Scotland and the North of England in their mobile team. It was a brilliant job, really supporting people and their families, in their own communities, with what was most important to them. When the pandemic hit, I returned to the NHS to work in ICU for 6 months and then in public health. I was keen to return to oncology and patient support and was lucky enough to be successfully appointed to this role.
I’ve kicked off my time here getting to know the CHECT team, and the clinical teams in the Royal London and Birmingham Children’s Hospital. I’ve been lucky enough to meet some families and have surveyed all members to build a picture of needs, what we do best and where we can improve. Thank you for participating in this and helping us co-produce a plan to develop our support services moving forward. I’ve also launched our online support offer – allowing people an accessible space to get support, meet others and keep in touch in between our family days, teen events and adult meet-ups.
I have a few passions in my area of work. Firstly, the importance of high-quality information and support. I believe that in order to tailor support to someone’s individual needs, you need to assess their needs holistically. Giving people time and space to be heard, and then providing them with the tools that they need to move forward is both essential and rewarding. High quality information means informed decision making, and high-quality support improves overall wellbeing and patient experience. Secondly – psycho-oncology – the impact of a cancer diagnosis on emotional wellbeing – both of the individual and their family. And thirdly, late effects. We need to be aware of long terms effects of the cancer and it’s treatment, and support patients with these to ensure that they live well, physically and emotionally as they move forward in life beyond their cancer diagnosis.
I think if the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that the little things really are the big things, we all value human connection, and that’s why I’m over the moon to restart our face-to-face support events. These events bring people together to meet others, make friends, experience new things, learn, and most importantly have fun. They encompass the family feel that is CHECT, and I look forward to meeting you at one of them soon.
In the meantime, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. I will focus on sustaining the high quality of our current service as well as building on that work so that we can be there for people and their families, and support them holistically with their needs lifelong.