UHNM Charity Funds £4 million development to University Hospitals of North Midlands Cancer Centre

Work is set to begin on a £4 million development programme to improve facilities for cancer patients at University Hospitals of North Midlands.

The Cancer Centre at Royal Stoke University Hospital is to benefit from changes to its entrance and environment  to enhance the patient journey, supporting local patients to live well with cancer.

Funded by UHNM Charity and the Denise Coates Foundation, the improvements will include a new entrance, a pharmacy, a multipurpose group room, two private rooms, an information centre, a refreshment area and a new waiting area for patients.

The Cancer Centre opened in 2009 and provides a purpose built facility for the delivery of treatment and care for oncology, haematology, immunology and allergy patients in the form of stem cell transplants, systemic anticancer treatments (SACT) and radiotherapy. The unit provides inpatient, outpatient and day case facilities, with dedicated pharmacy support for the dispensing of chemotherapy, immunotherapy and supportive therapy drugs.

The clinical teams at UHNM provide cancer care to a local population of 700,000 and diagnose approximately 2,400 new cases of cancer each year.

Lisa Thomson, Director of UHNM Charity, said: “I am delighted that thanks to a £3.6 million donation from the Denise Coates Foundation, UHNM Charity is able to fund this fantastic development to our existing Cancer Centre at Royal Stoke.

“Currently patients and relatives visiting the inpatient ward, attending a clinic appointment or receiving chemotherapy treatment have little or no access to refreshment facilities. The only facilities for refreshments are a vending machine in the clinic waiting area upstairs and for patients attending radiotherapy there are no facilities.  Access to the nearest refreshments requires a walk uphill outside of the building, which for some cancer patients is extremely challenging.

“Whilst there is a pharmacy dispensary in the Cancer Centre, this is for inpatient and day case use only. The provision of a satellite outsourced pharmacy for outpatient dispensing within the unit would mean that patients would no longer have a significant walk uphill and outside of the building to collect their drugs.”

Improvements to the Cancer Centre will start on Saturday 10 February and are expected to be completed by December this year. The main entrance to the Cancer Centre will no longer be available and a new entrance will be available at the rear of the Lyme Valley Centre.