Health Editor Barry Nelson talks to patients and stylists backing a pioneering new NHS service which is transforming the lives of cancer patients who need wigs after losing their hair.

WHEN Agnes Hackett was diagnosed with breast cancer last summer, she knew she was going to be in for a grim time. The grandmother of four from Southwick, in Sunderland, underwent two operations to remove suspect lumps followed by chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

That was bad enough, but after having chemotherapy, Agnes, 57, began to lose her hair, a process she found incredibly hard to take. “It is unbelievable how upsetting it is to lose your hair. It is part of you and when you look into the mirror, you don’t feel like yourself,” she says.

Agnes researched wig shops on the internet and then opted for a shop in Newcastle, but her first wig was a huge disappointment. “It looked false and didn’t give me confidence,”

she recalls. I couldn’t get used to it and was devastated that it looked like a wig. I was so upset as I was going through such a tough time anyway.”

That’s when she turned to the Tribeca hair salon in Sunderland, one of a chain of hairdressing shops which is part of an innovative project called My New Hair.

Founded by nationally-known hairdresser Trevor Sorbie as a notfor- profit scheme, 140 salons are now signed up to it nationwide. It is My New Hair that has provided the model for the new NHS scheme and many My New Hair salons in the region are on the new approved list.

TREVOR was concerned over the dilemma facing thousands of cancer patients every year and decided to do something about their plight. The aim was to dramatically improve the service to patients and to provide them with high quality, well-fitting and stylish wigs.

The idea caught on and this week the North-East NHS announced that it was backing the scheme. This means that cancer patients undergoing treatment from Berwick to Teesside will be able to choose free, high-quality wigs from an approved list of participating salons.

Many of the North-East hairdressers offering the service on the NHS have been trained through My New Hair and Trevor Sorbie has helped set up the North-East scheme, advising on the quality of the wigs that will be provided.

Trevor, who was at the Tribeca salon in Sunderland this week to mark the launch of the North-East wig scheme, says he hopes the NHS in other areas of the country will adopt the scheme.

“This isn’t about hair, it is psychological medicine for women who are suffering hair loss through illness.

For many of the women I have seen, it is the missing link in their treatment,”

he adds.

Darren Stuart, who owns and runs a chain of Tribeca salons across the region, has been an enthusiastic supporter of My New Hair and the linkup with the NHS. It was the experience of a close friend, who lost her hair after being given chemotherapy for leukaemia, that made him realise that the service provided to patients, particularly women, who needed wigs, had to be radically improved.

“She lost all of her hair and was sent by the hospital to be fitted with a wig. When she got home her little daughter saw her mum wearing this ill-fitting, old-fashioned wig and just burst out laughing,” he says.

When contacted by Trevor Sorbie to take part in My New Hair, Darren jumped at the chance to get involved.

“It makes an incredible difference to people who are already struggling to come to terms with hair loss to be given just the right wig and have it cut and styled to their taste,” he says.

“It is hard to explain how rewarding it is to fit and style a wig for someone and see their face light up. It can be very emotional.”

In recent months more and more stylists across the North-East have joined the My New Hair scheme. The new deal with the region’s NHS means that for the majority of clients, the service will be free.

Another satisfied customer is Danielle Wales, who lives in Chesterle- Street. Danielle, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in January when she was 28 weeks pregnant, underwent a mastectomy and is currently undergoing chemotherapy, which began while she was pregnant with her daughter Layle-Grace.

Devastated at the loss of her long curly hair, Danielle has experimented with three different wigs, the latest made from her own hair.

“My wigs are different colours and the third one will be made of my own curly hair,” she says. “It is amazing how much more can be done to make the wig look real and the new NHS service will be fantastic to help ladies like me feel more confident.”

My New Hair was also praised by Tyneside policewoman Carol Perrin, who attended this week’s launch in Sunderland. Carol, 53, from Whitley Bay, was fitted with an NHS wig after losing her hair as a result of treatment for breast cancer. “I thought losing my hair was terrible and that I wouldn’t want to go out. Now I’m not bothered at all and feel very confident,”

she says.

Agnes, who finished her treatment in March and is focusing on a gradual return to work, says the My New Hair scheme has been invaluable – and can now help many more patients.

“A good wig gives you a real confidence boost. When I have told people, they have not believed I am wearing a wig. I couldn’t have coped without it.”