The Oncology Day Unit at Furness General Hospital (FGH) in Barrow is thanking CancerCare volunteers for taking vital medications to patients who are 'shielding' from coronavirus (COVID-19) at home. Sara Wheeler, who has been a Chemotherapy Nurse on the Oncology Day Unit for the last 15 years, said patients and staff greatly appreciated the support from CancerCare.
Sara said: “Since the pandemic started many of our patients have been 'shielding' so having medication such as chemotherapy tablets delivered by CancerCare has helped them massively. People have really appreciated that as a lot of our patients have been nervous about coming into hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic. Normally they would come into hospital to pick up their medications.
“CancerCare's volunteers do a marvellous job with our patients but this particular service has been a massive help. They are also running a free helpline for people affected by cancer during the pandemic.”
University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust's Oncology Day Unit at FGH is a large multi-disciplinary team made up of Chemotherapy Nurses, Clinical Support Workers (CSWs), admin staff, doctors and specialist nurses.
In normal circumstances the team sees up to 30 to 40 patients per day and covers a large area of South Cumbria including towns such as Millom, Barrow, Grange-over-Sands and Ulverston. Different types of cancer including bowel, breast and lung are treated by the unit. There is also a similar team based at Westmorland General Hospital in Kendal covering the Lake District and the Lancaster and Morecambe area.
Sara added: “I'm originally from Barrow and I love my job. It's a brilliant team and we are all really close. We support each other and socialise together. On a personal level, I find it really rewarding working with our patients.”
CancerCare Chief Executive, Maria Chambers, said: “Due to the nature of what we do, many of our clients are extremely vulnerable and in need of our help in these extremely unsettling times so, while we are unable to carry out our usual work, we wanted to do something positive to help people with practical and emotional support.
“I am so proud of our amazing volunteers whose enthusiasm, willingness and can-do attitude has made a real difference to the lives of so many people in our community.”