Mesothelioma patients being treated in the city of London will now have the benefit of having a second educated mesothelioma specialist nurse in place, thanks to a donation from the group Pat Stone Meso Support.
The first such placement took place in late November of 2017, and the installation has been so immediately successful that Mesothelioma UK decided to follow up quickly and add another professional to the resources available to local patients.
Joanne Hargrave will join Rachel Thomas in the role. She will be working out of St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, a facility that offers patients the advantages of a multi-disciplinary team serving patients in East London, Essex, Portsmouth and the South Coast in the United Kingdom.
In the United Kingdom’s healthcare model, the dedicated mesothelioma nurse specialist supports surgical and oncology patients who have been diagnosed with the rare form of cancer. Her role will begin as soon as patients are diagnosed and carry over into all phases of treatment and after they are discharged.
She will also be working with patients taking part in the MARS 2 and MesoTRAP clinical trials, the former of which is examining the impact of surgery and chemotherapy, while the latter compares different protocols for patients suffering with trapped lung due to their condition.
Ms. Hargrave has worked with mesothelioma patients throughout her 19-year career in the field of thoracic care.
“I’m delighted to join Mesothelioma UK’s dedicated team of clinical nurse specialists. I’m in a really privileged position as my new role allows me to support and prioritize mesothelioma patients for radical and emerging surgical techniques to help to find a treatment for this devastating disease,” Hargrave said.
In the United States, the role that Ms. Hargrave and her colleague are filling is filled by case managers and social workers, as well as dedicated mesothelioma nurses. If you would like more information on state-of-the-art mesothelioma treatment programs, contact the Patient Advocates at Mesothelioma.net at 1-800-692-8608.
