{"id":441,"date":"2026-01-15T14:53:35","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T14:53:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/grace\/?p=441"},"modified":"2026-01-15T14:55:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T14:55:08","slug":"blog-by-dr-lisa-ashmore-co-pi-of-the-grace-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/grace\/2026\/01\/15\/blog-by-dr-lisa-ashmore-co-pi-of-the-grace-project\/","title":{"rendered":"Blog post by Dr Lisa Ashmore, joint project lead"},"content":{"rendered":"

My name is Lisa\u00a0Ashmore\u00a0and I am joint project lead on the GRACE project. I am a social scientist, working in Lancaster Medical School. I am also a Therapeutic Radiographer.\u00a0This blog post is taken from\u00a0an\u00a0after\u00a0lunch\u00a0speech\u00a0held\u00a0on International Women\u2019s Day\u00a02025.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I trained and worked as a therapeutic radiographer. Some of you might not know what that is \u2013 therapeutic radiographers are one of 14 professions allied to health, or allied health professions\u00a0(AHPs). They are often confused with nurses but are\u00a0very different.\u00a0Highly\u00a0trained and skilled professionals\u00a0the same but focussing on specific areas of work\u00a0\u2013 physiotherapists, occupational therapists, etc. Therapeutic\u00a0Radiographers work in the delivery of radiotherapy treatment \u2013 they are skilled in radiation physics, biology, and patient care.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u00a0had been working in radiotherapy\u00a0for about ten years before I started to question why we were doing certain things \u2013 why were we signing people up to\u00a0some\u00a0clinical trials and not others? Why were we buying equipment that no one has evaluated? Why are some people offered radiotherapy and others not?\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

These questions led me to the Department of Sociology at\u00a0Lancaster\u00a0University where I did a PhD in Science and Technology Studies\u00a0(STS). STS looks at the creation, development, and consequences of\u00a0science\u00a0and\u00a0technology\u00a0in historical, cultural, and social contexts.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Using STS for over 15 years,\u00a0I have built\u00a0a research programme\u00a0that\u00a0looks\u00a0at\u00a0the\u00a0emotional or felt aspects of radiotherapy as well as the ethical, legal,\u00a0political\u00a0and social\u00a0aspects. What STS tells us is that you cannot simply look at facts, or science, without understanding the politics and social forces that are driving\u00a0practice,\u00a0change,\u00a0and innovation. There is much\u00a0that\u00a0is done on technological advancement in radiotherapy. New machines that can increase accuracy, reduce the time needed for treatments or help teams understand where to deliver the treatment but little has been done to explore patient experiences alongside these developments.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That was why we applied to\u00a0North West\u00a0Cancer Research (NWCR)\u00a0for some research funds.\u00a0We wanted to know, what is it like to have radiotherapy? How does treatment change people\u2019s\u00a0perceptions\u00a0of themselves and their bodies, particularly related to social and sexual lives?\u00a0How can we use\u00a0patient experiences\u00a0to inform policy and practice?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With NWCR funding, we collected narratives, or stories, from people who were having radiotherapy\u00a0for six months \u2013 from their first day of treatment. We also collected narratives from people who had treatment at any point in the past.\u00a0We created a report from the project with recommendations on how we could improve conversations about radiotherapy treatment for gynae cancers. These were conversations about the treatment, about life, about sexual selves, about late effects, dignity,\u00a0communication\u00a0and trauma.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

All the women experienced worry when going through treatment but many were told not to worry or described how practitioners made them feel they were worrying needlessly.\u00a0Sometimes well-meaning loved ones and practitioners\u00a0attempted\u00a0to reassure patients by downplaying a\u00a0worry, or\u00a0using phrases like \u201cbe brave\u201d or \u201cgrin and bear it\u201d\u00a0or \u201cyou\u2019ve got this.\u201d\u00a0The narratives told us that, while\u00a0well-meaning, these phrases can stifle important communication and dismiss significant feelings and experiences.\u00a0Feelings and experiences that they shared candidly with us in the project.\u00a0Including how the effects of treatment meant they were unable to have a satisfying sex life,\u00a0work, or look at their own body.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Several women described planning their days so they could be near a toilet, carrying spare underwear, liners, pads, water for washing and changing their whole daily routine. Some late effects of treatment start way after\u00a0follow\u00a0ups have finished can be decades after treatment. Often people\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0associate late effects with their cancer treatment because they are so delayed. Late effects clinics for radiotherapy are not\u00a0mandated\u00a0and so provision is patchy across the UK.\u00a0It means they\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0access support,\u00a0intervention\u00a0or\u00a0care.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Some people described how, if they had their choice again, they\u00a0wouldn\u2019t\u00a0consent to treatment, given what they know now. It was this final aspect of the narratives that prompted us to seek funds\u00a0from the National Institute for Health and\u00a0Social Care\u00a0Research\u00a0(NIHR)\u00a0for a larger study to look at how we can better consent people for gynae radiotherapy, GRACE. A cancer diagnosis is a terrible, life-changing conversation and we need to put more support in place to ensure people are fully informed of what\u00a0they are consenting to and how\u00a0life after treatment might be.\u00a0That\u2019s\u00a0why I am so proud to be a part of GRACE.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Funding from NWCR enabled us to collect the experiences into a book, which has been shared extensively across the UK and internationally, with both patient groups and practitioners. It has been added to induction training for staff in\u00a0Clatterbridge cancer centre\u00a0to promote dignity for patients having internal radiotherapy, brachytherapy. It\u00a0has been\u00a0used\u00a0in south tees\u00a0to support practitioners\u00a0have\u00a0conversation about sexual wellbeing and pleasure.\u00a0People\u00a0in\u00a0Lincolnshire, from this work, now\u00a0have a patient informed\u00a0late effects service.\u00a0From\u00a0that small project, we have\u00a0made, and\u00a0continue to make a difference\u00a0to care and patient experience\u00a0but we want to do more.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Like our gynae\u00a0narratives\u00a0project, research\u00a0projects\u00a0time and time again\u00a0find that women are not taken seriously when they discuss health concerns. There is stereotyping and what is called diagnostic overshadowing, where\u00a0women of all ages have their health concerns\u00a0dismissed\u00a0\u2013 be that\u00a0as menopause,\u00a0anaemia\u00a0or exhaustion. Where older women are made to feel invisible and younger women not believed.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In February 2025,\u00a0<\/span>NHS figures for England\u00a0<\/span><\/a>showed that\u00a0the\u00a0gynaecology waiting list in England stands at\u00a0590 thousand. There\u00a0are about 29million women in England. This means that 2% of women in\u00a0England\u00a0are\u00a0currently\u00a0<\/span>waiting<\/span><\/b>\u00a0for gynaecological services.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, this is just women who make it onto waiting lists. There are hundreds and thousands of others who are battling through the months, if not\u00a0years, of trying to be heard.\u00a0Behind these numbers are real women living in extreme and often avoidable pain.\u00a0Some\u00a0waiting for cancers\u00a0to be diagnosed.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For people who face\u00a0multiple disadvantages,\u00a0inequalities in their health and health care\u00a0are\u00a0exacerbated.\u00a0What happens when we\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0attend to the social, legal,\u00a0ethical\u00a0and political side of\u00a0inequality\u00a0is that we create a\u00a0language that suggests that people who face inequalities are\u00a0uneducated, or\u00a0make poor choices.\u00a0Current evidence points to the\u00a0need for\u00a0broader thinking\u00a0–\u00a0beyond individual choice and responsibility – to thinking about the design, implementation and evaluation of policies\u00a0and services.\u202f\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

My plea\u00a0is that if we are to improve women\u2019s health, we cannot\u00a0stay silent or hidden. We must stop praising each other for being brave. As our work showed, it silences\u00a0fear\u00a0and\u00a0the sheer horror of experience. We must\u00a0talk to each other\u00a0candidly. We\u00a0must\u00a0do more to ensure women\u2019s health is a priority.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My name is Lisa\u00a0Ashmore\u00a0and I am joint project lead on the GRACE project. I am a social scientist, working in Lancaster Medical School. I am also a Therapeutic Radiographer.\u00a0This blog post is taken from\u00a0an\u00a0after\u00a0lunch\u00a0speech\u00a0held\u00a0on International Women\u2019s Day\u00a02025.\u00a0\u00a0 I trained and worked as a therapeutic radiographer. Some of you might not know what that is \u2013 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1865,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/grace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/grace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/grace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/grace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1865"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/grace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=441"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/grace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":444,"href":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/grace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441\/revisions\/444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/grace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/grace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/grace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}