Macmillan to invest £1.5m in new cancer support centre

The latest investment is just one way that Macmillan is helping local people affected by cancer to live their lives as fully as possible Macmillan’s Kaeti Morrison

Bath RUH is getting a new £1.5 million cancer support centre. Macmillan Cancer Support will invest the money into a new centre, to be known as the Macmillan Wellbeing Information and Support Hub or ‘Macmillan WISH.’ It will be located within the Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust’s forthcoming Dyson Cancer Centre and will cover three floors. It is hoped the Macmillan WISH will be a welcoming, relaxing and non-clinical space designed around the needs of patients and their carers. The service will offer free advice and support to local cancer patients and their families at every step of their cancer journey. The new larger and purposebuilt facility will replace the current Macmillan Cancer Information and Support Centre which opened in July 2005. Construction of the Dyson Cancer Centre and Macmillan WISH is set to begin in 2020. Among the new facilities will be: a large open-plan information library with staff and volunteers on hand to offer advice and support; three quiet rooms for counselling; a complementary therapy suite; a dedicated room for the prevention and treatment of lymphoedema; and on the top floor there will be overnight accommodation for relatives of patients who are critically ill, or approaching the end of their lives, to stay overnight and be close to their loved ones. Maggie Crowe, partnership manager at Macmillan said: “I’m thrilled to announce that Macmillan is investing in and helping to shape the new Macmillan Wellbeing Information and Support Hub. “We have worked in partnership with the Royal United Hospitals Bath for many years now and are joining forces once more to improve cancer support for local people. “The Macmillan WISH will be at the heart of the new Dyson Cancer Centre and will provide vital support to help patients, carers and families find their best way through cancer from diagnosis, during treatment, in recovery and at the end of life.” For over 20 years Macmillan Cancer Support and the Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust have been working together to improve cancer services and provide the best possible care and support. Macmillan funded the first Macmillan nurse at Royal United Hospitals Bath in 1998, there are now approximately 50 Macmillan professionals based at the hospital. RUH Trust chief executive James Scott said: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with Macmillan to benefit our patients and further improve the cancer care that we can offer. “These are very exciting times at the trust and we are grateful to Macmillan and to the generosity of our community for helping to shape what will be a major feature of the new Dyson Cancer Centre.” The Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust provides acute treatment and care for a catchment population of around 500,000 people in Bath, and the surrounding towns and villages in North East Somerset and Western Wiltshire. Designing and building the Dyson Cancer Centre is the final phase of a major redevelopment programme at Royal United Hospitals Bath to ensure they are fit for the future. The new building will feature state of the art facilities, designed in conjunction with staff and patients, to provide the highest quality clinical care in an environment that is nurturing and therapeutic. The hospital’s charity, The Forever Friends Appeal has been fundraising for the Dyson Cancer Centre since the launch of its Cancer Care Campaign in 2013 and over £9 million has been raised and will go towards the build. Macmillan is investing £1.5 million into the Macmillan WISH which will be a key feature of the Dyson Cancer Centre and the trust’s pioneering holistic approach. Kaeti Morrison, Macmillan’s fundraising manager said: “The latest investment is just one way that Macmillan is helping local people affected by cancer to live their lives as fully as possible and it is only through the continued generosity of people in Bath and beyond that we are able to contribute this large sum of money to the Dyson Cancer Centre and the Macmillan WISH. Macmillan receives no government funding. If you would like to support people affected by cancer, there are lots of opportunities on their website, macmillan.org.uk. Or call the supporter care team on 0300 1000 200.