The Brother to Brother, Man to Man group was set up at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust to improve care for black men after research suggested they were less likely to receive the level of care other men experience.

Picture credit: Alamy

The National Cancer Patient Experience Survey found that while experience of care is generally positive, black patients have a poorer experience across a number of areas, including support received following diagnosis.

‘A lot of the prostate cancer patients we see are black men, but we weren’t seeing them in any of our existing support groups,’ said Guy’s and St Thomas’ urology advanced nurse practitioner Jonah Rusere.

Urgent referrals for urological cancers reached an all-time high in March this year, with almost 25,000 people checked in just one month, following a campaign launched by the NHS and Prostate Cancer UK in February.

One in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer but it is even more common in black men with one in four developing the disease.

Prostate cancer clinical nurse specialist at the trust Amelia Barber added: ‘It’s not uncommon for a black man diagnosed with prostate cancer to not tell his family because the stigma is so great.

‘So a lot of the guys in the group are keen on awareness-raising and are courageously starting to talk about this kind of stuff in their community centres, barber shops and with family members.’

The National Cancer Patient Experience Survey can be accessed at www.ncpes.co.uk