Ashford hospital nurse shortage affects cancer patients

Patients with cancer have been told they will have to receive chemotherapy in mobile units because of staff shortages at a hospital in Kent.

The chemotherapy unit at the William Harvey Hospital, in Ashford, has closed for a year as the hospital cannot recruit enough specialist nurses.

Patients will either be treated in the mobile units or travel to the Kent and Canterbury Hospital, 20 miles away.

The hospital said there was a "national shortage" of chemotherapy nurses.

Maggie Lendrum, who has just been diagnosed with breast cancer, said she would have to travel to a different hospital for treatment.

She said: "I'm going to get weaker and weaker as the treatment progresses.

"I witness a lot of people who are really frail and it makes me think, will they actually continue with their treatment?"

Divisional director for specialist services Trish Hubbard said: "We have been trying to recruit replacement chemotherapy nurses, but there is a national shortage, which creates huge competition for the few that are available.

"We will be able to offer appointments to patients from the Ashford area by extending the hours of operation at our Canterbury site and using the mobile chemotherapy unit in Ashford, Dover and Hythe.

"We recognise that this is likely to cause some inconvenience to affected patients and we are working hard to ensure as many as possible can continue to be treated locally with minimum disruption to their care."