Cancer Psychological Service | Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

The Cancer Psychological Service is part of the Department of Psychological Services based in the Queen’s Centre for Oncology and Haematology at Castle Hill Hospital. Our aim is to support your emotional and psychological wellbeing, at diagnosis, during and after your treatment. We offer this support via a broad range of therapeutic services including psychological therapy on an individual, couple or group basis. We also offer support to relatives on a group basis. Please see the LOCUS page for more information.

If you feel that you would benefit from this service, please talk to a member of your care team (e.g. your consultant, clinical nurse specialist, GP, etc.) who can give you more information, and make a referral if appropriate.

This website offers psychological resources for all patients with cancer. This includes information leaflets, audio clips and videos which can be easily downloaded. Please take a look at what support our service and webpage have to offer you.

Contact us

Cancer Psychological Services
Queen’s Centre
Castle Hill Hospital
Castle Road
Cottingham
HU16 5JQ

Call us on 01482 461060 or 01482 461061
We're open Monday to Friday, 8.00am to 4.00pm
(closed on bank holidays)

Getting to Our Hospitals

Please note we are not a crisis service.

Information on risks are outlined below:

Immediate Risk

If you or someone you know is at immediate risk of harming themselves or others and requires immediate medical attention, the safest response is to dial 999 and ask for an ambulance.

The paramedics are trained to deal with crisis situations and can call other professionals as needed.

Individuals in Crisis

Call 111 and select 'Option 2' for Mental Health support.

Individuals in crisis can also access a Mental Health Crisis Team 24 hours a day, 7 days a week according to their location. Please see the list below:

Hull and East Riding (for those registered with a Hull or East Riding GP)

Patients - call 08001 380990
Professionals - call 01482 216624

RDaSH (Rotherham, Doncaster & South Humberside)

Single point of access (SPA) 0800 804 8999 or 0300 021 8996

North East Lincolnshire, NAViGO Crisis Team

Single point of access (SPA) 01472 256 256

First Response Service - 111 (mental health - option 2) or 0800 0516 171

Supportive Psychotherapy
Finding ways to deal with distressing emotions by reinforcing strengths and identifying ways to cope.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
Changing the way we think and behave to have a positive impact on our feelings.
Mindfulness
Shifting our attention towards the present moment, rather than worrying about the future or dwelling on the past.
Compassion-focused Therapy (CFT)
Working with a member of staff to learn / re-learn to be compassionate towards ourselves and less critical of ourselves.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Developing our potential for a rich, full and meaningful life through working with, not against, the difficulties we have.
Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing (EMDR)
Using the minds' natural ability to heal itself. It can be used to relieve symptoms related to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other difficulties such as anxiety, depression and phobias.

We support you and your loved ones, whose lives have been affected by cancer. But we also offer practical help. And we'll give you information that you feel would be helpful. We can also give you access to various ‘self-help’ resources, such as specific types of guided relaxation and visualisation. We welcome you to discuss any matters that are troubling you and your family.

Coping with the initial diagnosis of cancer
Responding to impact of cancer-related treatments
Dealing with changes and adjusting to life circumstances due to impact of cancer including; work, social life, and relationships
Anxiety, depression and other mental health concerns relating to cancer
Phobias related to cancer treatment
Fear of cancer coming back
Adjusting to life after cancer
Maintaining quality of life during, after and beyond cancer treatment
Coping with pain caused by cancer and / or cancer treatments
Coping with palliative (end of life) care and end of life issues

When you are referred to our service, one of our team will contact you, usually by phone to take some further information from you in order to better understand your concerns and how we might be able to help you. This call usually takes about half an hour. If we are not able to contact you, you may receive a letter from us asking you to make contact with the service.

We have a weekly team meeting in which we will discuss the kind of support you need from us. This makes sure that you get the most appropriate support, right from the start.

We will then contact you about your appointment. We may be able to offer face to face, telephone or video appointments, depending on your needs. You may have to wait to be seen within our service. We may contact you to arrange a referral to another service if that is most appropriate.

Appointments for psychological therapy usually last 1 hour. How many appointments, and how often they are, will be agreed between you and your therapist to best meet your needs.

The first appointment is called an assessment, and it’s generally about getting to know you and hearing about your cancer journey. During the assessment, the clinician and you can think about your needs and goals, whether therapy will be useful for you, or point/refer you to other services if they can better meet your needs.

We offer telephone, video and face-to-face appointments. The clinicians will do their best to offer appointments that are most convenient to you. However, certain therapies may work better in person and therefore you may be asked to come in for a face-to face appointment.

We may write to your other healthcare professionals, such as your clinical nurse specialist, consultant, and GP to keep them updated about your wellbeing.

Confidentiality

Everything discussed is confidential. However, if you mention something that concerns your safety or safety of others, we will need to discuss that with the relevant professionals to keep you safe. If there is a risk of harm to you or others we would need to notify the relevant professionals but we would always try to talk to you first.

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