Doctors in Oxfordshire are spending a day suffering virtual sickness to understand how cancer patients feel during medical treatment, writes Victoria Owen.

With help from special technology, oncologists will be able to see day-to-day life through the eyes of patients who have experienced chemotherapy.

They will travel through a "virtual" home as they are asked to do everyday tasks while suffering from fatigue and anaemia - symptoms felt by 76 per cent of people who endure the treatment.

Chemotherapy often leaves people tired and frustrated when they attempt to tackle even the simplest tasks as part of a normal day.

The doctors are concerned that they usually focus on battling against the cancer itself, while giving less thought to the side effects left by treatment.

Organisers hope the In My Steps event will educate consultants and give them a better understanding of how their patients feel.

Dr Elaine Sugden, a clinical oncologist at the Churchill Hospital, Oxford, will be taking part in the event on Thursday, at the Headington-based John Radcliffe Hospital.

She said: "Fatigue is one of the major symptoms that cancer patients complain about after their chemotherapy.

"It's something we have never been able to quantify, like vomiting or hair loss, so we're interested to see how it feels.

"It's something that we haven't paid much attention to until now and in the past we may have even thought patients were exaggerating.

"Some patients have taken part and, if anything, believe the symptoms are not as bad as how they actually felt after their treatment!"

Doctors will wear a special mask and gloves and use foot pedals to experience the 15-minute journey through a patient's house.