Release time: 2026-08-04 11:18
BPS supports calls for psychological support to be recognised part of cancer treatment
The BPS Faculty for Oncology and Palliative Care responded to calls to end the disparity in psychological support for cancer patients.
The British Psychological Society has backed calls from breast cancer charity Future Dreams to end the 'postcode lottery' of psychological services for cancer patients by making psychological support a key part of a patient's recovery. Research from the charity found that in some areas, a formal pathway for psychological support was as low as 20 per cent.
A spokesperson from the BPS's DCP Faculty of Oncology and Palliative Care, said:
"A cancer diagnosis affects far more than the body. People living with and beyond cancer face profound psychological challenges at every stage of their journey. Anxiety, depression, trauma and fear of recurrence are common, and we know that unmet psychological need can affect how well people cope with treatment, decision-making, maintaining relationships, and their recovery and quality of life afterwards.
"Yet too often, psychological support is treated as an optional extra rather than an essential part of high-quality, person-centred cancer care. Whether someone receives timely, skilled support should never depend on where they live, which hospital treats them, or whether they can afford to pay privately.
"Psychological support shouldn't be something patients have to search for or wait to access. It should be built into cancer pathways from the point of diagnosis, through treatment, rehabilitation, survivorship and palliative care, delivered by appropriately trained practitioners embedded within oncology and palliative care teams, working alongside medical and nursing colleagues.
"We wholeheartedly support Future Dreams' call for psychological support to become a core part of cancer treatment. Embedding equitable, evidence-based properly commissioned psychological provision across every cancer service in the UK is the only way to ensure we treat the whole person, not just the disease, and that no one has to face cancer's emotional impact alone."
