Royal visit to Chesterfield
HRH The Duke of Gloucester has unveiled a plaque to officially open the NGS Macmillan Unit following a tour of the building at the Chesterfield Royal Hospital.
The unit opened to patients in June 2017 following an 18 month building programme and a £2.5million fundraising campaign, including a phenomenal £1.5million donation from the National Garden Scheme (NGS), contributing to the overall £10million cost of the project.
The Royal visit gave clinical teams, architects, designers, fundraisers and those involved in the project at all stages the chance to talk about their involvement and give their thoughts on the finished project and how the unit has improved cancer services for patients, their families and staff.
Services that have been built into the unit include Haematology, Oncology, Acute Oncology, Chemotherapy, selected Medical Day Case activity, Palliative and Supportive Care. It is home to 21 treatment chairs, two treatment beds and three treatment rooms for chemotherapy patients compared to the eight chairs in the old Cavendish Suite which more than triples the capacity for treatment. There is also a Macmillan Information and Support Centre to help patients and their families through a diagnosis and treatment.
Carly Starkey is the matron for the chemotherapy service, she said: “It’s been such an honour to welcome His Royal Highness the Duke of Gloucester to our new unit and show him our treatment areas, demonstrating how it has benefitted our patients. Compared to the old unit, which could become very cramped very quickly in terms of space, this new facility is incredible for our patients and staff. There is so much natural light thanks to the huge window space and we’ve had a lot of positive comments from patients about the view across the countryside.
“The environment is more pleasant and we have additional space to set up the various different treatments without disrupting patients. The chairs we’ve brought in are state of the art as well. Our patients were involved in choosing the most comfortable ones which are fully adjustable to suit the individual and we have retractable screens for increased privacy and dignity. We now provide more treatments for more patients in a more comfortable environment which is fantastic for the people of North Derbyshire.”
Dr Roger Start is the Lead Cancer Clinician and led the project from the very beginning, he said: “We needed to address the growing demand for cancer services. Current statistics show that one in every two people born after 1960 will develop cancer within their lifetime which means that our chance of receiving a cancer diagnosis is increasing.
“It was always our intention to build a unit for the treatment of cancer but, with the help of Macmillan and the National Garden Scheme, instead of having what would have been an ordinary building we now have an extraordinary one. Thanks to the considerable sum raised through Macmillan’s campaign we have a building we can be proud of and I’d like to thank everybody who baked cakes, pushed beds, shaved heads and ran, walked and cycled thousands of miles for making this possible. The unit provides exactly the kind of space, natural light and relaxing environment to complement the exceptional care and treatment that our services provide.”
Elaine Wilson, Macmillan Strategic Partnership Manager for the East Midlands, said: “The NGS Macmillan Unit is having a really positive impact on people living with cancer in North Derbyshire. Thanks to the support of our fundraisers who helped us raise £2.5million towards to cost of the new unit, more people than ever before are being treated closer to home in a state-of-the-art, purpose-built facility. The Macmillan Information and Support service has already seen more than 3,000 patient visits since the Unit opened, so that non-clinical needs such as emotional and practical support are being met which is really important as we know that cancer can affect so much more than just your health.”
The Royal visit included a tour of the unit’s clinical rooms, the chemotherapy treatment area, the Macmillan Information and Support Centre and reception. His Royal Highness spoke with staff who work in those areas and patients, hearing about the building of the unit, its design and how the wider community were involved throughout the project, not to mention the incredible efforts of those who raised money for the Macmillan campaign.
