Quieter times ahead as cancer patients get new room at Royal Lancaster Infirmary

A quiet room, funded by the Rosemere Cancer Foundation, where cancer patients can sit with family and friends in a comfortable, informal environment to discuss their treatment or to collect information, has opened in the Oncology Unit at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary.
By The Newsroom
Published 25th May 2016, 07:00 BST
Paula Richardson, Head of Charities and Fundraising, Morecambe Bay Hospitals Charity, Rosemeres Chief Officer, Sue Thompson and Sue Procter, Sister and RLI Oncology Unit Manager Ward.Paula Richardson, Head of Charities and Fundraising, Morecambe Bay Hospitals Charity, Rosemeres Chief Officer, Sue Thompson and Sue Procter, Sister and RLI Oncology Unit Manager Ward.
Paula Richardson, Head of Charities and Fundraising, Morecambe Bay Hospitals Charity, Rosemeres Chief Officer, Sue Thompson and Sue Procter, Sister and RLI Oncology Unit Manager Ward.

Rosemere Cancer Foundation agreed to a request for £20,000 from the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust, to convert an unused bathroom area within the unit into the new tranquil space.

With 1,400 patients attending the unit a month for consultations and to receive chemotherapy day treatment, the new quiet room is expected to quickly become a much appreciated oasis of calm, away from the hub bub of a busy clinical department.

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Rosemere’s chief officer, Sue Thompson, who attended its opening, said: “The room has a dual purpose with a private area offering refuge for patients, their family and friends and where they can also talk about their treatment plan with staff but in a non-clinical setting so that they are more at ease.

“Its other role is as a central point for the provision of a wide range of information leaflets and booklets, including Macmillan publications, which patients will be able to access.

“All in all, it’s a private space designed to make patients’ cancer journey that little bit more comfortable and for that reason, an invaluable addition to the unit.”

Foluke Ajayi – chief operating officer at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust – said: “This is great news for local people.

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“The new quiet room in the Oncology Unit will make a huge difference to every cancer patient’s experience of the overall care they receive at the RLI.

“I would like to thank Rosemere Cancer Foundation on behalf of the Trust for the huge difference they are making.”

Rosemere Cancer Foundation works to bring world class cancer treatments and services to local cancer patients throughout Lancashire and south Cumbria via their local hospitals and the region’s three specialist treatment centres.

These specialist centres are the Rosemere Cancer Centre at the Royal Preston Hospital, Blackpool Victoria Hospital for blood cancers and Blackburn Royal Infirmary for liver cancers.

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It spends the donations it receives on vital equipment, research and training that cannot be funded by the NHS.

The charity also funds those things that can make the cancer journey a little more comfortable such as free access to complementary therapies for all newly diagnosed patients.

For further information, visit its website at www.rosemere.org.uk.