ABSTRACT
A cancer diagnosis during childhood has a devastating impact not only on the child but also on the family unit. In this piece the term ‘family’ is extended to include the range of professionals who provide medical, social, psychological and educational support to the child and their immediate family throughout the process of diagnosis and treatment. It explores how the cancer diagnosis can be posited as a highly negative event in the life of the child and their family through interviews conducted with professionals working on Kamran’s Ward at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford and families of children receiving treatment there.
