CCHF have invested £3,750 on new comfortable equipment for cancer sufferers and their families in Buckinghamshire.
The charity, which raises money to support cancer treatment facilities operated by Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, have funded the purchase of folding guest beds and wheelchairs for use at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, near Aylesbury.
Prior to the provision for the new folding beds relatives of patients who were dying in hospital had to make do with sleeping in chairs. Staff provided pillows and blankets but it could still be an uncomfortable time while they accompanied their relatives in the final hours (and sometimes for days or weeks).
The two beds will be used across Stoke Mandeville on all wards.
Photo of Glideaway® guestbed courtesy of GP Care Systems
Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust's Inreach Palliative Care Team member, Chris Dokelman, explained: “We aim to bring a hospice-type environment to the acute hospital wards. In what is already an anxious time for families, reassuring them that they can stay and sleep comfortably beside their loved ones can make all the difference.
“In recent years, we have tried to help relatives out by giving free hospital parking and to offer food and drink to those who have had to come from far away. We have one chance to make it right and now having these beds has really put the cherry on the cake,” said Chris.
Additionally, CCHF has funded the provision of four new wheelchairs for use at the Cancer Care and Haematology Unit at Stoke Mandeville and in Ward 5 at the hospital.
These include two lightweight wheelchairs and two bariatric wheelchairs.
At CCHU they will be used by patients receiving treatment and who may require wheelchair transport to other parts of the hospital complex for tests or x-rays, etc.
Dr Ann Watson, Chair of CCHF, commented: “We were delighted to be able to fund this new equipment. We were particularly pleased to hear that the folding guest beds were immediately useful for a number of families. There was clearly a need for them and that need is now being met.”
The Cancer Care and Haematology Fund is a charity set up to help those with cancer and haematology related diseases in Buckinghamshire. Through public fundraising a specialist unit – the CCHU - was built and opened in January 2001 at Stoke Mandeville Hospital. The charity continues to provide financial support for projects and services which benefit patients cared for at the CCHU, the Sunrise Unit at Wycombe Hospital and in community settings across Buckinghamshire and adjacent counties.
Follow the link to view our work: How we support
