The song gives voice to those waiting months for cancer treatment
More than one in three patients are now waiting more than two months to start cancer treatment following an urgent GP referral, with one in six waiting more than 90 days, according to new research for Zurich by Professor Hackshaw, at the UCL Cancer Institute.
There is huge variation in waiting times across regions in England. Three in five (59%) patients in the Birmingham and Solihull area wait over two months to start cancer treatment since an urgent GP referral, compared to one in five (21%) in the Surrey Heartlands region.
Prompt intervention is critical; waiting an additional month for surgery could increase the risk of death by between 6-8% for bladder, colon, head, neck, lung and breast cancer.
Two thirds (67%) of patients say waiting for treatment is the hardest part of having cancer, with half (46%) reporting anxiety and a third (37%) fear.
Monica McGhee, whose career as a soprano reeled from opening a Wembley FA Cup Final, to a thyroid cancer diagnosis, has created a new song alongside cancer-beating musicians: tenor Toby Spence, and pianist Lee Michael Walton.
More than one in three patients are now waiting more than two months to start cancer treatment following an urgent GP referral, with one in six waiting more than 90 days, according to new research for Zurich by Professor Hackshaw, at the UCL Cancer Institute.
There is huge variation in waiting times across regions in England. Three in five (59%) patients in the Birmingham and Solihull area wait over two months to start cancer treatment since an urgent GP referral, compared to one in five (21%) in the Surrey Heartlands region.
Prompt intervention is critical; waiting an additional month for surgery could increase the risk of death by between 6-8% for bladder, colon, head, neck, lung and breast cancer.
Two thirds (67%) of patients say waiting for treatment is the hardest part of having cancer, with half (46%) reporting anxiety and a third (37%) fear.
Monica McGhee, whose career as a soprano reeled from opening a Wembley FA Cup Final, to a thyroid cancer diagnosis, has created a new song alongside cancer-beating musicians: tenor Toby Spence, and pianist Lee Michael Walton.
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NewsTranscript
00:00I sit alone here, life's lost direction,
00:27Clocks tick but somehow the time is standing still,
00:43Frozen in such fear, trapped here against my will,
00:58Where will it end?
01:06When your mind drifts to a dark place,
01:14As the minutes fall quickly into days,
01:21You know time and tide wait for no man,
01:29Is it about time to move on?
01:37How much longer now?
01:43How long to go?
01:50When you can't see an end to the path that you are on,
02:04And the answers seem far away,
02:11Who can you turn to?
02:15Who can explain?
02:17Who will be there to ease your pain?
02:25When your mind drifts to a dark place,
02:33As the minutes fall quickly into days,
02:40You know time and tide wait for no man,
02:49And you're losing the strength to go on,
02:57How much longer now?
03:03How long to go?
03:10When there seems no sign of reassuring news,
03:18And your weary body lost in queues,
03:25Your future may lie in the lap of the ghosts,
03:32Comfort is calling these words,
03:38You're not alone,
03:45When the darkness begins to fade,
03:52And the strength that you lost begins to grow,
03:59All the waiting and worrying still remain,
04:09You've begun to find yourself again,
04:17Finding strength despite the pain,
04:27How long left to go?
04:37Who begins to grow?