Psycho-Oncology for Adult Mental Health Service
What Does Our Service Do?
The Leicestershire Psycho-oncology Service provides a service to people in Leicestershire & Rutland who are living with cancer. We are a very down-to-earth service that looks at some of the emotional difficulties people face following a diagnosis of any form of cancer, (including lymphoma, leukaemia, myeloma and melanoma).
We are very used to helping people who are depressed after a diagnosis of cancer but we deal with many other problems including, persistent distress, severe anxiety, anger, suicidal thoughts, communication problems, adapting to lifestyle change, body image worries and low self-esteem.
How Does Our Service Work?
Our service is run by experienced mental health professionals including,
Dr Alex Mitchell Consultant Psychiatrist
Chris Coggan Senior Nurse Practioner
Sue Todd Dual Qualified Nurse Practitioner
Julia Middleton Associate Specialist in Psychiatry
The administration side of Psycho-oncology is run by our PA Hannah Plowright.
We also have close links with medial psychology. Occasionally medical and nurse students and researchers work with us.
We offer a range of treatments and always try and find the best one for you. Each treatment will only be given with your agreement and you can stop treatment if it does not suit you. We will not give you any treatment which interferes with your medical treatment.
Treatments that may be recommended include, emotional support, face to face talking therapy, graded activity planning, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), antidepressants, group therapy, tailored information, relaxation programmes and telephone support.
Our Service is delivered from:
- Outpatient Department Clinic, Osborne Building, LRI
- Patients’ homes
- Day Centres
- LOROS Hospice
- Inpatient wards at Leicester Hospitals
How Can You Access Our Service?
To access our service you can:
- Speak to your GP
- Speak to any other healthcare professional involved in your care, including your cancer specialist or Clinical Nurse Specialist.
Contact Us
The Service can be contacted by phone on 0116 295 2335 or Fax Number 0116 225 6673. Our address is:
Department of Psycho-oncology
Daisy Peake Building
Gipsy Lane
Leicester, LE5 0TD
Further Information
How Did We Do?
If you would like to make any comments or raise any queries about our Service then please complete our online questionnaire.
Outcome of Proposed Changes to Psycho-oncology Service
As part of a local consultation, LPT recently sought views on possible changes to our Psycho Oncology Service. Our proposal looked at ways we could improve the service by providing psychological as well as psychiatric support in line with NICE (National Institute for Clinical Excellence) guidance. It considered replacing the existing Consultant Psychiatrist post with a part time Senior Clinical Psychologist, with psychiatric support to be available from the Trust’s General Liaison Team as needed.
The views of patients and their families were taken into consideration, alongside feedback from other stakeholders, when deciding the outcome.
It has been decided that patients will benefit from our existing Consultant Psychiatrist post continuing as a half time role and receiving training in order to provide psychological support, as well as the psychiatric support currently available. This will ensure we offer a comprehensive service and the level of support required to meet NICE guidance.
As a result, patients will continue to receive care and treatment in the way it is currently provided, but can expect to benefit from the enhanced range of support available.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank those who took the time to give us their thoughts, views and suggestions.