Macmillan Cancer Support Reviews 

I dropped into the offices of the Macmillan charity in St Georges Hospital, Tooting, recently hoping to consult them about my partner, currently battling stage four cancer.

I wanted to talk about palliative care - NHS vs private. Hospice vs home care. In particular, I was - and still am - concerned about pain relief: what different options offer and which might be the best. I hoped to get some advice and information or at least some insight from the 'friendly' cancer charity.

When I took a seat, I was offered a drink, which I declined. That turned out to be the most sympathetic and helpful gesture I would receive. The person I spoke to told me that Macmillan do not concern themselves with medical matters and I would have to ask the nursing staff about anything connected with that.

And that was it. Nothing else was offered. No information. No leads. It was obvious she wasn't interested in extending our 'chat' At one point, she even stifled a yawn.

Given the public image that Macmillan projects of helpful and caring souls, I can honestly say that I've had more empathetic interviews at the job centre!

Needless to say, I won't be venturing back. ChatGPT will give me the information I need and probably in a more friendly manner.

You should all be in prison. You want money for charity? The biggest beggars in the UK. CEO salary over 6 figures. Absolute rip off, stop claiming you are helping people, you are only helping yourselves. I hope the government will catch those criminals.

Thank you so much for helping me through cancer my cousin sister in law and my brother who at the moment is end of life you are kind caring patient etc
🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

Macmillan were not there for my dad. I was able to ring them with questions in office hours and sometimes they would get back to me. But when I asked for emotional support for dad who was in hospital, I was told they don’t go visit patients on wards. The nurse was based at the same hospital.
I just wanted dad to have someone he could talk to/be supported in confidence.
I even contacted the Macmillan support line asking if they could help. They said dad could phone them and get phone support.
Dad was hard of hearing and struggling in a very busy/stressful hospital setting with terminal cancer. He needed a Macmillan nurse to be there in person.
I feel so let down. I lost my dad and I often think about how McMillan just weren’t there for him the way they portray on adverts.

Always worked and felt embarrassed to ask for financial help, but macmillan fiance resured me and gave me support and help fill in forms I didn't know about. Now I'm in a better place not to worry about money. Thank you

They do not offer any home assistance at all they refer u elsewhere

Where is the donated charity money being spent

If macmillan nurses work for the NHS THE GOV PAYS THERE SALARIES

SOME OFFICIAL BODY NEEDS TO LOOK INTO TO THERE FINANCES

Gail

THERE ADVERTS ARE NEVER OFF TELLY ASKING FOR DONATIONS

Hubby on end of life care no sign of macmillan they are not interested

GOOD JOB WE HAVE THE GOLD LINE
😢😢😢

HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT!!! Far too controlling with no valid helpful information at all!

MONEY GRUBBING CON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I would have given zero stars if possible. Macmillan have barely been of any help since my cancer diagnosis.

My wife was receiving treatment for lung cancer at Chesterfield Royal Hospital. She said from the outset that she did not want to know how long she would live but was told that she was unlikely to last 3 month. That really upset her.
Chemo went well but every appointment after that was dreadful.
The best she had was 30minutes late. The rest were much later, up to 2hours 30 minutes on one appointment. No way to treat a terminally ill patient.
She felt really ill on one occasion and when I asked for help I was told to take her to A&E which was a 20 minute walk away.
This terrible experience took place in late 2024.
She died in January 2025.

I have seen and experienced the service at first hand. I have to say that the service is often five stars plus. The specialist nursing support for my wife really has been first rate over years of cancer. Faultless. Full marks for this. They also helped greatly with a benefits claim, again full marks.

The counselling services less than good. This has been for my wife. The counselling service has really been quite poor in helping my wife through difficult times. The counselling services in dealing with a patient seem happy without any challenge to accept that others are contributing towards the issues. In this case me, this makes things very difficult. I have enquired of the helpline as to how loved ones or others are impacted by the advice given, and whether this is ever considered . The response was the service is geared to help the patient. I do wonder how they gauge the success of this service.

My impression is that for services that are helping the cancer patient in a very direct way all is mostly good. The soft side such as counselling not so good. I would recommend some peer mystery shopping for this.

I have noted all the poor reviews. There are no doubt many good reviews that can be made, as service is free many will not bother. The service does need to get more information in real time as to how well or not they are doing.

My mum lived with advanced cancer for just over a year and was initially reassured MacMillan would be supporting her throughout.
Reality: She NEVER met her assigned macmillan nurse. Just a few pointless emails that interfered with the communication between her and her oncologist.

The provide ZERO care. They just do some basic admin. They are a pointless interface between patients and medical care. Patients need direct contact with care providers; this charity is just a total sham. It confuses an already tangled mess of providers among the NHS to make the service even harder to navigate when you are in a vulnerable situation.

The charity should be disbanded and the nurses absorbed as clinical nurses in the cancer wards. The support offered is pointless and limited.

I await the vague and uncaring comment from MacMillan below this asking me to email them. I can’t be bothered as you can use your eyes to read this message.

Thanks for letting down all the cancer patients across the UK. Save your donations and give to local charities who actually care and don’t have a highly paid marketing team.

Desperately sad to see so many bad experiences. All of the people here are unique in their circumstances and sometimes it's a "bad fit" and can't be helped. My wife had a scary and upsetting time with her diagnosis and op. Macmillan's support was really appreciated and just having a friendly face /voice at the end of a line was so helpful and appreciated. The consultant was great too. All the same, there's a degree of "luck if the draw" here, but Macmillan tries.

Nice television ads, but the reality is very different. In my experience all they do is signpost, and there’s very little direct support.

I’m very b disappointed with this organisation as they say on website cannabis/oil can encourage cancer growth absolute crap sorry but it’s a government run organisation and are giving false information

My husband was diagnosed with a fairly rare cancer. At the start of the appointment we were told a nurse would be coming in and we said OK, fine. We both knew it was likely cancer and just wanted the facts and next steps.

We found her presence quite invasive to be honest, she added no value and we felt we were being watched while we received bad news. It was uncomfortable.

The conversation with the doctor was informative, and he was very hopeful there could ultimately be a positive outcome. Although the news wasn't great, we felt pragmatic.

After the Macmillan nurse asked if we had a minute. She just proceeded to make us feel worse about everything. She was overly emotional talking about "going on a journey" and the unknowns, how we must be feeling. I saw someone say the nurse made him feel like a dead man walking and that was 100% what she did.

I'm sure some people find them useful but we will be asking them not to be involved any longer.

I would have given zero stars if possible. Macmillan have barely been of any help since my cancer diagnosis. They may as well not exist. At best they signpost where ypu can ACTUALLY obtain help. They have been utterly useless.

Calling Macmillan Cancer Support was a complete waste of time. I reached out hoping for guidance, advice, or at least some practical support, and what I got was empty words and total uselessness. The person on the line was polite, but that was it — they had no answers, no solutions, and no real help to offer.

Their website and promotional materials are outright misleading. They make it sound like they can support anyone dealing with cancer, but the reality is a farce. I explained my situation clearly, only to be told repeatedly that they couldn’t help and that I’d need to figure it out elsewhere. It was confusing, frustrating, and emotionally draining — exactly the opposite of the support I desperately needed.

For an organization that claims to be there for cancer patients and their families, this was a shocking letdown. The so-called “support” is hollow; the guidance is nonexistent; and the reality does not match a single promise on their website. If you expect compassion, practical help, or even a hint of understanding, you will be sorely disappointed. This experience left me feeling ignored, misled, and utterly frustrated. Macmillan Cancer Support failed completely, and I cannot, in good conscience, recommend them to anyone seeking real help.

What a waste of space they was when mum had cancer how dare they do a advert on tv digusting was nit one bit intetested what a farse please do not give or donate money

Useless. No help whatsoever.

We ran a fantastic coffee morning at our studio, no thanks to MacMillan who didn't send the pack for us to dress or arrange the venue. Now we've no idea how much we raised as it all went through a QR code. Badly, badly organised this year.
Eventually received a pack 4 days after the event. Now they're asking how much 'dough' we raised. MacMillan need to join the dots more in the admin part.

Luckily, we, at the studio all pulled together after weeks of us organising this event to raise money and getting everyone to the studio.
Very disappointing for a huge charity like this. Next year we'll rethink!

No thank you from them...
No, 'this is what you raised'
Now I'm asked frequently, how much did we raise at the MacMillan Morning. And I look foolish saying... I don't know (after all the hard work it took)
And I still don't know!!
Naffed off