Press release – 6th December 2011
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Cancer patient home for Christmas thanks to care closer to home
Herefordshire born, William Hoare, age seven, will be celebrating Christmas with his family
and friends, thanks to the children’s cancer care service at The County Hospital, and CLIC
Sargent the UK's leading children's cancer charity.
Around 1,500 new cases of childhood cancer are diagnosed each year in the UK.
Childhood Cancer Awareness Month this December helps to raise awareness of childhood
cancer.
Last Christmas, football loving seven year old William was diagnosed with leukaemia,
cancer of the white blood cells, the most common childhood cancer.
William and his family had to come to terms with his diagnosis, along with the many
sessions of chemotherapy treatment that he would need, and the possibility of having to
travel outside of Herefordshire to another hospital for his care.
It was fortunate that a new local shared care cancer care service had just been introduced
at The County Hospital, in Hereford, and William was to be the first child in Herefordshire
to benefit from cancer care closer to home.
William’s care is shared between the children’s ward at The County Hospital, where he
receives most of his treatment and monitoring, and Birmingham Children’s Hospital for
regular check ups.
Tom Hoare, Williams’s father, said “Thanks to the children’s cancer service at The County
Hospital we can spend Christmas together as family, without having to travel a long way
for William’s treatment”.
“We could not ask for more caring, reassuring and helpful staff. William is happier coming
here and all his friends and family can visit him because the hospital is near to home”.
The local cancer service has been invaluable to William and his family, with shorter
journey’s to hospital, in Hereford rather than Birmingham, and fewer overnight stays,
giving William more quality time with his family, time to attend school, play with his friends
and play football.
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William and his family have also been supported by the UK's leading cancer charity for
children and young people, CLIC Sargent, which provides financial help to meet extra
costs, free accommodation close to specialist cancer centres for families and holidays in
the UK.
CLIC Sargent funds its services to reduce the impact that cancer has on children, young
people and their families, and Dara de Burca, CLIC Sargent’s Director of Services says:
“CLIC Sargent provides clinical, practical and emotional support to children and young
people with cancer, and their families, to help them cope at what is likely to be one of the
most difficult times in their lives.
“We fund more than 30 nurses and more than 100 social workers who support families
from the point of diagnosis, helping them to cope with the impact of cancer and its
treatment, life after treatment and, in some cases, bereavement.”
Dr Simon Meyrick at Wye Valley NHS Trust, said: “We are very pleased to be able to
provide a cancer care service for children”.
“The children’s cancer care service provides care closer to home at The County Hospital,
enabling family and friends to be on hand to provide support, which is beneficial to a
child’s health and well-being”.
“The service also provides community care through the Kite Centre, in Hereford, who
support the family with treatments at home or in school when hospital visits are not
necessary”.
The cancer care service at The County Hospital was set up to support patients and their
families when a child from Herefordshire or the surrounding area is undergoing treatment
for childhood cancer or leukaemia.
Children with cancer no longer need to make as many long journeys to out of county
hospitals in Birmingham, Shrewsbury or Worcester, if they would prefer to receive certain
aspects of their care at The County Hospital, in Hereford.
This service, as a shared care unit with Birmingham Childrens Hospital, is able to provide
less complex aspects of the chemotherapy treatment, as well monitoring, and clinic
services for out-patient visits at their local hospital.
The service is lead by Dr Simon Meyrick, and Oncology Link Nurse, Maggie Orchard, at
Wye Valley NHS Trust. There is also community care through the Kite Centre in Hereford.
To find out more about childhood cancer or to get involved with supporting CLIC Sargent,
the UK’s leading charity children's cancer charity, please visit www.clicsargent.org.uk
END
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Photograph
Felicity Hoare, Tom Hoare, and William Hoare
Notes to editor:
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Wye Valley NHS Trust is the first integrated provider of acute, community and adult social
care in England.
The key principles of the organisation are to improve the health and well being of the
people we serve in Herefordshire and the surrounding areas.
With an estimated annual turnover of around £160million, we employ around 2,500 staff. As
the first integrated provider of acute, community and social care in England, we aim to build
new relationships between our staff, patients, service users and their carers, and with the
wider community.
We are a clinical and practitioner-led organisation owned by our local community and staff.
We are also working towards Foundation Trust status with the aim of achieving it in 2013.
For further information please contact:
Nicola Licence, Company Secretary, Wye Valley NHS Trust: 01432 355444 ext. 5210
or Fiona Gurney, Communications Assistant 01432 355444 ext. 5105
A provider of health and social care