Fundraising for Stratford’s cancer unit where the nurses are praised for their compassion
THE remarkable work and the highest levels of constant patient care at the Rigby Unit at Stratford Hospital has drawn universal praise from those who individually benefit from the wisdom and kindness of the nursing team at the unit and who take great pride in creating a family environment for patients.
As it approaches its seventh year in August of treating people with cancer and eye conditions, the unit – which cost £22 million – has transformed patient care in the town and district not only in terms of diagnosis but also in the next important stage of medication and choice of care procedure and this looks set to get even better if £30,000 is raised towards the purchase of a blood analysis machine at the unit.
Su Bullimore, Rigby Unit Manager said: “At the moment blood samples are taken and sent to Warwick but it can be a couple of days before the analysis is known. If we had a blood analysis machine on site we could make the appropriate clinical decisions quickly – on the spot – which is much better for the patient from a physical and psychological perspective.”
The machine is – as it title suggests an analytical device - which counts the number of different types of red and white blood cells, blood platelets, haemoglobin, and haematocrit levels in a blood sample. This makes diagnosis quicker and several conditions can be identified including cancer if it’s present. These machines are specialist which means they can be expensive.
There are 58 members of staff at the Rigby Unit and at Aylesford Unit, Warwick Hospital, and probably 15 at Stratford on a daily basis caring for 40 to 50 patients a day. Understandably, faces become familiar but they are friendly faces as nursing staff and patients forge links that are unique to the setting and the medical circumstances.
“It’s a community-based hospital,” Su said. “We build really good relationships based on trust. We have a fantastic team here which works collaboratively and they are very skilled at putting people at ease who tell us they never mind the chemotherapy because they feel safe here. The Immunotherapy or chemotherapy could take eight to nine hours or half an hour it just depends but we will always be there. The motivation for us is to help a patient to smile and when they have facial recall of who we are it is very valuable to us.”
Jo Wheelwright-Horne BEM founder of the Sunday Lunch Club in Stratford has pledged to raise money for a blood analysis machine at the Rigby Unit.
The lunch club and its members topped the £100,000 mark in time for last Christmas in terms of money raised for various charities over the last eight years including the Shakespeare Hospice which the lunch club raised £17,000 for in 2023.
Jo knows only too well about the remarkable levels of patient care at The Rigby Unit as her husband, Alex, was diagnosed with incurable Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma in January last year and is seeing a specialist consultant at the unit every three months.
“It was a very frightening time,” Jo told the Herald. “When I was crying - when we found out that Alex had cancer - the nursing staff were so comforting and kind, they really are lovely people. It was daunting but the Rigby Unit is such a lovely place, it’s very homely – does that sound a bit odd? Alex has two tumours, one in his armpit and the other in his neck so he visits the unit to have bloods taken every three months and the results tell us if his blood is stable. So, we are living are life in 12 week cycles.”
The couple dread any news that might suggest Alex’s blood is showing signs of worsening but that hasn’t happened to date nevertheless he doesn’t have a very healthy liver, as Jo explains.
“He’s not having chemo because that would affect his liver so the medical team are leaving it because the two tumours are not affecting his vital organs and they have not spread. It’s one of those watch and wait cases. He is receiving counselling because he can’t get his head around the fact he’s got cancer. We’re both going to be 60 this year and we are planning for the future now and have a Mediterranean cruise booked. We’ve also got a season long pitch for our touring van not far from Great Yarmouth which we like visiting,”Jo said.
The reason the lunch club is raising money for a blood analysis machine is because it will save time and which means people can find out their results in two hours instead of two days.
Jo added: “Our target is to raise £20,000. Our next lunch is 23rd June and it’s fully booked. We are going to Cheltenham on a double decker bus to have lunch at a lovely gastro pub I’ve discovered.”
Su Bullimore, Rigby Unit manager, said: “How grateful we are to Stratford Lunch Club for nominating us. We feel very privileged that they have thought about donating funds to help us continue to give even better patient care.”
To donate and help the Sundy Lunch Club raise money for the blood analysis machine visit:
https://tinyurl.com/y4jyk3hk
