Balancing women’s cancer care needs with limited resources

Whether you serve on the board of trustees or within senior management, you will often face difficult decisions about how to stretch limited resources to meet the growing needs of women battling cancer. You may recall such a moment yourself. Did it feel discouraging, or did it help guide your team toward a more positive and effective solution?

As the demand for cancer services rises—especially for women facing unequal access to treatment—resource constraints naturally follow, often in the form of limited funding or reduced staff capacity. In the corporate world, profit may guide strategy, but for a charity focused on women’s health, decisions are far more complex and emotionally charged.

Your mission must always remain centered on fulfilling your charitable purpose:
to support women fighting cancer with fairness, dignity, and equitable access to care.
This raises important questions:

• Should financial sustainability take priority over expanding essential services?

• Can staff hours be reduced without compromising the safety and quality of care for female patients?

• Are the unique needs and voices of women with cancer more important than the cost of running the service?

The true challenge lies in evaluating the life-changing impact of one service compared to another.

Trustees have a legal responsibility to act in the charity’s best interest.
Senior management, much closer to the realities faced by women undergoing treatment, often feels the weight of these decisions even more deeply.

One of the strengths of charitable governance is the space it creates for clear, compassionate thinking. Many individuals—both staff and trustees—are here because they genuinely care about women’s health and cancer support. Yet that commitment often makes difficult decisions even more emotional, especially when they affect the women and families who rely on us most.
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