The Ovacome Support Service
0845 371 0554
One of the most important and unique services that Ovacome
offers is the Support Line.
One of the founding principles of Ovacome was to provide
information and support as well as to bring people together to talk
to others in a similar situation. When Ovacome was first
established in 1996 the Support Line was run by Ovacome staff from
their homes on a rota basis. The Support Line continued to develop
having an official base in the first Ovacome office at Barts
Hospital in 2000. Roles specific to the Support Line were then
established with registered nurses taking calls.
The Support Line has evolved to what it is today - a service
offering information and emotional support to women, their
families, friends, carers as well as health professionals. The
Support Line is open 5 days a week from 10am to 5pm and
is staffed by registered health professionals Ruth Payne and Latha
Kanthaswamy
Although we are not able to offer medical advice, many callers
say they are pleased to be able to speak to a healthcare
professional not involved in their care. Some people call to
request Ovacome factsheets, others for emotional support and some
for a good old chat.
The sorts of calls received cover many aspects of ovarian cancer
and can range from questions about signs and symptoms, diagnosis,
treatments to clinical trials.
(The cost of calling 0845 numbers can vary according to your
provider, your tariff and when you are calling. Check with your own
provider for details. From BT domestic landlines the call may be
free or may cost up to 7.6p per minute with a set up charge of up
to 11.5p. From landlines on a standard BT business tariff with no
special call package, calls cost 3.36p+VAT. Calls to 0845 numbers
from mobiles cost considerably more so if you are using a mobile
you may wish to call our alternative number +44 20 7299
6650)
support@ovacome.org.uk
Did you know that you can also get support and information via
email? Just email us at support@ovacome.org.uk
and one of our support line nurses will reply.
If you email we will try our hardest to get back to you within
one working day. All emails are treated as confidential and you do
not have to give us any identifying details about yourself. if you
would like to set up an anonymous email account to contact us with
this can be done easily at www.gmail.com.
What are the benefits of emailing?
You can send your email at any time, day or night.
Getting your concerns down in black and white is sometimes
useful in itself by helping to clarify your thoughts.
If talking to someone is hard or makes you emotional it might be
easier for your to correspond by email.
