'Nursing' Coronation Street star through breast cancer

By Jane Elliott
Health reporter, BBC News

Sally told Kevin she had breast cancer

When Coronation Street's Sally Webster told her husband on Christmas Day that she had breast cancer, the audience was gripped.

Would the philandering Kevin stay with Sally, or run away with his young lover Molly?

But for breast cancer nurse Vickki Harmer there was a far greater concern - how would the soap handle such an important issue as breast cancer?

Each year in the UK there are more than 46,000 women diagnosed with breast cancer. At some point, one in nine women will have the cancer.

Plot lines

Almost 80% of those affected are post-menopausal, but the rest, like Sally, are younger.

And as Vickki, a clinical nurse specialist at Imperial College NHS Trust, explained - when airing an issue like this on one of the major soaps it is vital to get things right.

You might think 'oh crumbs that wouldn't happen like that!' Vickki Harmer

In September she was asked to join an expert panel advising the soap, and helping them plan Sally's battle with the disease.

"I had already advised the Archers, when Ruth Archer got breast cancer, and a Family Affairs character, so I was delighted," she said.

"It is a really exciting, amazing opportunity.

"I advised them on surgery, a mastectomy, chemotherapy, radiotherapy - all the treatments essentially, and all the support that is out there.

"I had to answer questions such as how long someone waits for their operation, how long someone is in hospital, when would they be able to go back to work, whether someone can sit with them during their radiotherapy and what the side effects would be.

Vickki has advised a number of soaps

"I also advise them on hospital protocol, such as bare below the elbow - where doctors are asked not to wear watches or rings.

"Then I would email them back, and then they would email me the scripts.

"And you might think 'oh crumbs that wouldn't happen like that!'"

Vickki said it is important the soaps get their facts right, because they have such large audiences.

"When Coronation Street ran the Sally storyline they ran a helpline number afterwards. Breast Cancer Care said their calls doubled after the show," she said.

Dr Alexis Willett, from Breakthrough Breast Cancer, who asked Vickki to take up her role, agreed - saying that getting the right message across is paramount.

"By working closely with our expert advisors, such as breast care nurses, charities like Breakthrough can make sure that the right information and messages are woven into a plot line.

"As a result, as well as raising awareness of the disease, viewers should get a more realistic idea of what a breast cancer patient may experience throughout their treatment journey.

"Working on high profile programmes also means that we can make sure that our information line staff are fully prepared for any extra calls this may bring."

Struggle

Vickki said ensuring errors do not hit the screen is vital.

"If storylines aren't handled sensitively, and give out the wrong information, they can do untold damage," she said.

She even wrote to her favourite soap, EastEnders, when character Sam Mitchell discovered a benign lump and had to wait two weeks for results after seeing a specialist.

"I told them it wouldn't happen like that and they would get the results the same day."

Vickki admitted she was avidly watching Sally's struggle.

"I have been following it closely," she said.

"They changed her treatment trajectory around, for one reason or the other, and actually she is having radiotherapy at the moment, so we assume she has been lucky enough to miss out chemotherapy."

Like the rest of Coronation Street fans, she is unaware of Sally's ultimate fate, but says she has been impressed by what she has seen so far.

"It's been hugely rewarding to work with such responsible script writers," she said.