Greenham Common Trust helps support new Cancer Care and Dialysis Centre with £600,000 grant

A life-changing new cancer care unit and kidney dialysis centre will become a reality for West Berkshire patients in the next nine months.

The new centre will form part of the existing West Berkshire Community Hospital, and has, in part, been made possible by a grant from Greenham Common Trust.

While official work is due to begin this October, trustees of the two charities behind the project anticipate the finished unit will be ready by June 2017.

Once realised, the new centre will mean an end to the exhausting journeys currently made by patients travelling to the Royal Berkshire Hospital, in Reading and further afield.

The renal dialysis centre will be on the ground floor, with the cancer centre on the first floor. The whole complex will be named The Rosemary Centre in honour of Miss Rosemary Rooke whose original bequest led to the building of the present community hospital.

The Rosemary Appeal for £4.5m has been launched to fund the building and fitting out costs. The appeal is being run jointly by The Newbury and Thatcham Hospital Building Trust and the Newbury and District Cancer Care Trust.

The start of the groundworks marked an important turning point. The two charities have been working closely over the last 18 months to make this vision a reality.

Dr Rob Tayton, trustee and secretary of the N&THBT, said: “The main aim of this unit is to increase the availability of care to people in West Berkshire. Patients with these conditions will see and experience vast improvements in their quality of life, and that’s why we are doing this.

“There are around 29 local patients who receive renal dialysis and the numbers are increasing by 4% per year across the country. At the moment they have to travel to the Royal Berkshire Hospital three days a week for treatment. The new centre will be able to treat most of them and manage the increase for the foreseeable future.”

Dr Paul Millard, N&DCCT founder and trustee, said: “Local people with life changing illness will benefit greatly from the improved facilities and this will be a true community project. We want people to be involved and feel they have ownership. Funds are being raised in the most creative of ways, from WI bake sales through to fun runs; every donation is important.

“As far as cancer care is concerned, although the nursing standards are excellent, current facilities are not really suitable for comfortable care in a modern setting. There are no consulting or examination rooms, and no privacy areas. Different elements of treatment are fragmented across the site. Chemotherapy currently is delivered in a mobile unit, with no waiting or recovery area. The new unit will resolve all these issues.

“Staff will be able to run chemo and IV sessions more frequently, instead of running a shared timetable for one space. Discussions with patients and family members can be conducted in a more satisfying environment. Everything will be in one place, and consultants can discuss ongoing care with patients and specialist nurses at the same time.”

There will also be a new CT scanner in the unit, paid for by RBH, but the room available needs considerable structural change before the CT machine can be installed. Costs for the changes required will be met by The Rosemary Appeal.

Once the facility is complete, patients will be able to have scans at the community hospital which will help with early diagnosis and monitoring of treatment. With patients receiving scans locally, it will be more convenient and it will ease the pressure on the Royal Berkshire Hospital.

The pledged £600,000 grant from GCT will be evenly split between the cancer and renal units.

Chris Boulton, Chief Executive of Greenham Common Trust said: “The new units are desperately needed in West Berkshire, and will make a huge difference to cancer patients and those undergoing dialysis.

“Our grant was designed to make it that much easier for people to receive necessary treatment locally, and more comfortably closer to home. Reducing the stress of travel, and receiving care nearer home, can only be of benefit to patients.”

The Berkshire Healthcare Foundation Trust is managing the building project, and once complete the NHS will take ownership.

However the N&DCCT has pledged 80k for the next few years to help ease the transition and give additional support towards financial costs.