Cancer care service maintains its support
NCC charity continues to operate throughout pandemic
A WEST Berkshire charity has continued to provide support to people who have been diagnosed with cancer, those who are undergoing treatment and their families.
Newbury Cancer Care (NCC) has continued to operate throughout the pandemic by providing drivers to drop patients to appointments, financial assistance for those who need it, education about the illnesses, and other services for those who need it in an isolated time.
Significant improvements have been made to the facilities at the Rosemary Centre, a cancer care centre in the Greenham Wing of West Berkshire Community Hospital, to help patients and families.
The charity has also improved facilities at the hospital and has made a financial grant to Sue Ryder Palliative Care Hub Berkshire, which provides a wide range of support services for palliative care patients, including therapeutic workshops.
Chris Bartlam, a trustee at the charity, told the Newbury Weekly News that throughout the pandemic there had been a drop in the use of the charity’s transport service, which is designed to help patients travel to and from their treatments at hospitals.
Prior to the pandemic, roughly 100,000 miles were driven by volunteer drivers to appointments.
This drop is because of the postponement in pre-arranged hospital appointments caused by the pandemic, which has been delaying those with severe illness getting the treatment that they need.
As many patients are being told to wait to receive medical treatment, Mr Bartlam said that the charity has been providing support “wherever possible with the resources available to support individuals and their loved ones in these difficult times”.
Recent projects include upgrading the gardens for welcome openair relaxation for patients and providing French door access to the gardens from the ground-floor rooms in the hope of improving the mental health of cancer patients.
Another recently-introduced facility that the charity provides is ‘cuddle beds’, extendable beds where families and loved ones can be physically close to the ones they are losing.
A family member of a cancer patient who used the cuddle beds said: “Staying with him in The Rainbow Rooms through his last days meant we were able to be by his side right to the end.
“That meant so much to us.” To find out more about the full range of services available, go to the NCC website at www.newburycancercare.org or call (01635) 31542.
The charity has been providing support ‘wherever possible with the resources available to support individuals and their loved ones in these difficult times’