The family members of people with cancer are a ‘vulnerable population often neglected by the healthcare system', a cancer nurse has claimed.

According to Aoife McNamara, a cancer information nurse with the Irish Cancer Society (ICS), in the near future, ‘almost every family in Ireland will be touched by cancer'.

She noted that cancer patients are increasingly spending less time in the clinical setting, for example, chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments are often dealt with in outpatient clinics.

"This results in less time being spent with healthcare professionals and more time being spent at home with family and friends," Ms McNamara explained.

However, many family members obviously do not have the expertise of oncology professionals, therefore they are reliant on what the patient or other family members tell them.

"They have no medical knowledge, no training to provide physical or emotional care and they are very often unable to address their own needs. This may result in a negative cycle.

"If family members have unmet needs, they will be unable to meet the patient's needs. If the wellbeing of family members continues to be unmet, ultimately it is the patient who will suffer," she said.

Ms McNamara pointed out that services in Ireland for family members are limited and the ICS's cancer information service, which includes the National Cancer Helpline, ‘is the only service that is widely accessible to family members of cancer patients'.

This is despite the fact that in 2006, the National Cancer Forum recommended that the HSE should ensure that access to comprehensive support should be provided to both patients and their families.

She insisted that family members have a right to their own support and that their experience ‘should be considered independently of the patients'.

"They too should be recognised as legitimate care recipients. While considerable emphasis is placed on cancer prevention programmes worldwide, projections confirm that cancer incidence is likely to increase. Now is the time to invest in the psycho-social wellbeing of cancer patients and their families," she added.

Ms McNamara made her comments in the Irish journal, Cancer Professional.