Straightforward trustworthy advice for malignant melanoma patients and carers
Frequently Asked Questions: Is there someone I can talk to?
MARCS Line
The MARC's Line (Melanoma and Related Cancers of the Skin) is a resource centre, telephone advice line and self-help network of patients, families, members of the general public and health professionals.
The resource centre is available to anyone with a personal or professional experience in skin cancer. The telephone help-line is available as an information service, point of contact for the melanoma network and a support service.
The telephone is 'manned' Monday to Friday from 9am till 5pm and an answer machine facility is available out of hours. Their website is here.
Macmillan
More general cancer support from Macmillan. To quote their website:
"Call our cancer information nurse specialists on freephone 0808 800 1234 (Monday to Friday 9am – 8pm). They can help you with up-to-date information on diagnosis, symptoms, treatments, clinical trials and more.
We can provide you with emotional and practical help, and put you in touch with other sources of support. Call our freephone on 0808 808 2020 (Monday to Friday 9am – 9pm).
We have dedicated phonelines for Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi speakers, and interpreting services are available for other languages. "
Out of Hours
The above organisations keep business hours, more or less. Outside of these hours, you might find the following links and numbers helpful.
NHS Direct telephone 0845 4647,
NHS Scotland telephone 0845 242 424
The Samaritans telephone 0845 790 9090,