Housing debt and bills adding to woes of UK cancer patients

21/12/2009

Tens of thousands of the most vulnerable members of UK society are likely to spend Christmas in bed this winter as they cannot afford to to pay their housing debt and bills.

That is according to a new report from Macmillan Cancer Support, which has revealed that as many as one in four patients with the condition will be forced to make a choice between 'eating or heating' over the festive period.

The paper also reveals that around one in five cancer patients are suffering from fuel poverty compared to a national average of one in ten, with many of these likely to need professional debt help with their housing debt and bills.

According to the charity, more needs to be done to help cancer patients out of debt and enable allow them to keep warm over the winter months.

In particular, it has called on the government to extend the winter fuel payment policy to cover those patients with personal income worries.

"The current system is completely failing cancer patients and needs to be brought bang up to date," Ciaran Devane, chief executive of Macmillan Cancer Support said.

This comes just days after the website BeatThatQuote.com warned that estimated energy bills could be adding to the personal income worries of many families across the UK.

Tags; Housing Debt and Bills,

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