Community chemotherapy service proves a popular choice

Patient Elaine Thorneycroft with chemotherapy sister Leanne Pass

A pilot Christie community chemotherapy service which has been running since earlier this year is proving to be extremely popular with Rochdale borough patients who are now receiving their care closer to home.

The specialist cancer centre The Christie launched the pilot in Bury in February 2012 with the aim to cut travel time for patients needing treatment and to treat people closer to where they live. Delivered from within Townside Primary Care Centre in Bury, the service runs every Thursday for local patients who choose to receive their care in this alternative health care centre. The service is the first of its kind in a primary care location for The Christie, offering treatment for chemotherapy patients.

Patients living in the Rochdale borough, Oldham, Bury, and surrounding areas were specifically targeted for this pilot scheme due to the high number of patients from these areas who would usually have had to travel to The Christie’s main site in south Manchester to receive chemotherapy. Patients from these areas are being given the option to have treatment at the pilot site in Bury.

Elaine Thorneycroft, 68, from Rochdale was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010. The cancer has since spread to her liver and bones but she undergoes treatment every three weeks to keep the disease under control. She said: “It’s made a great difference having my treatment in Bury rather than having to travel all the way to Withington. Everyone is so efficient, it goes so smoothly and I have an extra day in my life. From start to finish it really works well and it is such a happy place. It’s the best thing to happen and I can’t thank the staff enough.”

To date local patients have taken advantage of over 100 sessions at Bury with many more people expected to chose to receive their treatment in this community location over the coming months.

The service is run by two Christie chemotherapy nurses who travel from The Christie’s main site once a week to deliver care to patients in the community. Due to the success of this project The Christie is to extend this service and open chemotherapy units in primary care locations in Ashton and Rochdale too. The Rochdale service will be available later this year at Nye Bevan House and the Ashton service will be available within the next month at Ashton Primary Care Centre.

Dr Chris Duffy, Chairman and Clinical Lead for the NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Clinical Commissioning Group said: “These new services are about providing the best possible care by highly specialised staff in the most convenient places for patients. Patients can choose where they can be treated and this is just one example of how, in partnership, we are making improvements to the way that services are delivered for the benefit of our patients. The centres in Bury, and soon to be in Rochdale are excellent state of the art facilities, and for some patients, are more convenient than a trip to the main Christie site, in south Manchester. They are a really welcome choice for many patients, and I am delighted that they are proving popular with this service is available for local patients.”

Deputy chief operating officer at The Christie, Jason Dawson said: “This pilot was originally expected to last three months, but due to its outstanding success, has been extended. It is hoped this service will become a permanent fixture as even in just a few months we have seen just how beneficial it is to patients.

“The Christie vision is to deliver safe and effective treatment in the best possible setting. We know how draining it can be when patients are undergoing chemotherapy treatment, so we are continually looking at ways we can do things differently to make life that little bit easier for them.”