Woman backs call to change stem cell policy

A woman who had to raise more than £100,000 to fund her stem cell treatment is calling for the NHS in England to change its rules on transplants.

Faith Hinitt, from Retford in Nottinghamshire, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) in October 2023. Although she received her first stem cell transplant on the NHS, she was refused a second treatment when she relapsed within a year.

The 28-year-old is now supporting a national campaign - launched on Wednesday by three charities - for NHS England to review its policy.

NHS England said it had commissioned "an independent evidence review into the case for a second allogeneic stem cell transplant".

Hinitt was diagnosed with AML after her dentist recommended she went to hospital when she did not respond as expected to antibiotics. She spent 14 days on ventilation after contracting pneumonia.

After chemotherapy did not work, her brother was identified as a match for stem cell treatment, and he became her first donor in September 2024.

When her cancer returned months later, she was treated again with chemotherapy, but after further relapses she was told she was not eligible for another transplant on the NHS, which she said left her in desperation.

"I just sobbed and said, 'I'm going to have to sell my house'," she said. "I just remember going into sheer panic, of [thinking], 'What are we going to do?'

"We're a very basic, normal family, we save up for our holidays - people do have a spare hundreds of thousands, but we certainly don't.

"I never once in my life, through all this cancer journey, thought that it'd be down to a financial decision on my life, that I couldn't have the life-saving treatment that I need."

After deciding to fundraise online for a second transplant that afternoon, Hinitt managed to hit her target in one day, which she said had been "just so overwhelming".

She said the second stem cell treatment, which was provided by an anonymous donor and took place in Sheffield in June, had given her a new lease of life.

"Especially over the last week, I've had a few glimpses of normal life and it feels amazing," she said.

"I've lived off hospital food from February until about July time, so for me to be able to be back in my own kitchen in my house and cooking a meal... I feel blessed that I'm able to do that again."

Under NHS England's current policy, introduced in 2017, if a patient relapses less than 12 months after their first stem cell transplant, they are not eligible for a second one.

Nationwide charities Anthony Nolan, DKMS UK and Leukaemia UK are launching a joint campaign calling on NHS England to update the policy, which they said means some people are "denied a potentially life-saving stem cell transplant just because they can't afford it".

"Transplant medicine has moved forward significantly in recent years, yet the current policy is outdated and unfair, leaving some patients having to raise hundreds of thousands of pounds to access a treatment that could give them another chance at life," Yasmin Sheikh, head of policy and public affairs at Anthony Nolan, said.

"NHS England must update its policy so clinicians can make decisions based on the latest evidence and what is right for each patient."

In a statement, an NHS spokesperson said: "NHS policy should be guided by the latest clinical evidence, which is exactly why an independent evidence review into the case for a second allogeneic stem cell transplant has been commissioned.

"While that is under way, any patients who have concerns or questions about their treatment options should speak to their local clinical team for support."

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