Banbury cancer patient shares life-changing impact of integrated mental health care
Richard Stretton says psychological support has been pivotal to his recovery
A Banbury man has described how integrated psychological support helped him cope with his stage four cancer diagnosis and ultimately his recovery.
Richard Stretton was rushed to hospital in 2022 after collapsing at home.
What initially appeared to be blood clots on his lungs quickly turned into something far more serious.
“It was just a massive shock really,” he said, after scans revealed an 18cm tumour in his liver and a 6cm tumour in his bowel.
He was treated across multiple sites including the Churchill Hospital, undergoing months of aggressive chemotherapy followed by major surgery to remove 70% of his liver.
His recovery was marked by serious complications, including sepsis and multiple emergency operations.
But while the physical toll was immense, Richard said the mental impact was just as difficult.
"I was struggling to process it all and cope with everyday tasks. I couldn't eat or was eating too much, I couldn't sleep," he said
During his recovery, Richard was referred to a psychological medicine team at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, where support is built directly into cancer care rather than offered separately.
Through regular sessions, he was given coping strategies to manage anxiety and feeling low.
Richard said: "As men, we can be bad at talking about our emotions so it really helped that it was done in a way where it didn't feel like I was having counselling. It just felt that I was just chatting and talking through problems.
"They broke the problems down in individual segments and then you concentrated on one bit at a time."
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (OUH) is one of the few hospitals in the world to integrate psychological medicine directly into their clinical cancer pathways.
Sam Glover, an occupational therapist in the team, said the approach is designed to be proactive.
Rather than waiting for patients to be referred in crisis, individuals are screened during their cancer appointments and offered further support where needed.
“We didn’t really want it to be separate. We’re very much holistic in Oxford,” she explained. “So not just how the cancer is affecting them physically, but also the mental implications of that.”
The service includes talking therapies, problem-solving techniques and behavioural activation, as well as antidepressants where appropriate.
"It's so important because if you're experiencing anxiety or depression throughout your cancer care, it has such a big effect on your outcomes overall," Sam said.
“We know that people who are depressed don’t come to their chemo sessions, they disengage from treatment a lot,” shesaid.
For Richard, the impact of that support was clear.
“With the psychiatric cancer care, that was like the glue that helped keep all your body and your mind together,” he said.
“If I didn’t have that support, I wouldn’t know which way to turn.”