HASAG Mesothelioma Nurse Specialist

Introducing Rachel Thomas our Mesothelioma Nurse Specialist

We are proud to announce that Rachel is now our HASAG Mesothelioma Nurse Specialist.

Rachel joined the team as a Community Mesothelioma Nurse Specialist. Rachel is a registered nurse with over 18 years of experience of caring for patients and their families who have been affected by a diagnosis of mesothelioma and lung cancer. During her 18 years in the NHS and corporate setting Rachel has published journal articles on lung cancer and spoken at national and international conferences on caring for patients with mesothelioma. Rachel works in collaboration with local Lung Cancer nurses, Palliative Care Teams, GP’s, District Nurses and Social Workers to provide holistic care for patients in the community.

Rachel has also worked for many years in the palliative care setting as a nurse in several hospices and has built up a solid knowledge base around symptom control, advance care planning and end of life care. In 2024 she successfully completed a course at The Royal Marsden in caring for patients at the end of life. Alongside her work with HASAG, Rachel is a committee member for the International Thoracic Forum for Nurses and helps to provide education to nurses across the world.

Rachel has worked in collaboration with HASAG for over 14 years and is delighted to be coming to work with HASAG as their nurse. We are proud to be the only charity to have a registered nurse to support our patients in the community

HASAG welcome Rachel to the team, we recognise that patients benefit from having a specialist nurse who can undertake home visits and offer support and advice to patients and their families in the privacy of their own home.

How Rachel can support you:

Home visits or phone calls to provide support  and advice on the following:

• To provide support and advice at the point of diagnosis to patients and their families.
• Treatment advice and support.
•  Clinical trials
•  Symptom management.
• Guidance and support around end of life care.
• Attendance at patient support groups.
• Support around planning for the future.
• Psychological support.
• Carers support.
• Bereavement support.

The whole team are really excited about this new role and the incredible support all our patients will receive.