What we heard about cancer and access to healthcare
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Sunrise Multicultural Project wanted to understand the experiences of some of the communities they support in Banbury Neithrop and Ruscote, especially South Asian women – including what barriers people face to getting a timely diagnosis and what would support people to find and get help for cancer early on. With support from Healthwatch Oxfordshire, using a community research approach, together they ran focus groups with two of our ladies’ support groups. They heard from around 20 women about their experiences of cancer screening, diagnosis and treatment, and of accessing healthcare more generally.
Some women faced barriers to accessing health and care services including GPs, dentists and hospital appointments. These included long waits for appointments and difficulty contacting their GP practice by phone.
Several people had experienced challenges getting the interpreting support they needed – for example, being offered an interpreter who did not speak their dialect – and felt they had to rely on family members to help them.
The ladies have some awareness and understanding of cancer, often based on the experiences of friends or family members. They make sure to attend screening appointments, even though they can be uncomfortable, and encourage other women in their community to attend as well. Some women, but not all, knew about how to self-check and why it was important, and played a key peer support role encouraging others in their community to attend screening.
There were contrasting experiences of getting a cancer diagnosis and of their symptoms being taken seriously. Healthwatch also heard about the positive difference made by practical and culturally appropriate support.