Second Mobile Cancer Unit At Airedale Supports Patients During Covid-19
A second mobile cancer care unit is in place at Airedale Hospital to help care for patients with cancer during the COVID-19 outbreak.
The new mobile unit, or 'cancer bus' as it is named by patients, was delivered along with a nursing support vehicle from the charity Hope for Tomorrow. It was scheduled to be launched at a new trust later in the year but they were happy for it to be used by another hospital in need.
Between the two mobile units the hospital will be treating at least 36 patients a day. The original mobile unit will be working in the community as previously.The second unit will be based on site but without the need for patients to enter the hospital. Patients will pull up outside, get on the unit and then go straight home after their treatment.
Pat Dyminski, Lead Clinical Nurse Specialist in Haematology/Oncology at Airedale NHS Foundation Trust, says:
“Delivering treatments on our mobile units is helping us to protect our patients from exposure to potential infection. We are taking every precaution and looking at different ways of delivering treatment to our patients to keep visits into the hospital at a minimum and reduce patients’ anxiety at this very difficult and worrying time.
"We are using our Mobile Cancer Care Units (MCCUs) not only to give treatments but to help the GP surgeries and district nurses who would normally have to see our patients to take blood samples. The support vehicle is also being used to ensure our very elderly patients can receive their tablet medication. Patients who would normally attend the hospital we are reviewing via a telephone consultation and then they are picking up their medication from the MCCU which is local to their home.”
Pat continues:
“I want to say a huge thank you to Hope for Tomorrow for their continued support by offering us the use of a second Mobile Cancer Care Unit at this unprecedented time. I also want to thank my colleagues at Airedale in all the different departments who have helped expedite the use of this second mobile unit.:N
Nikki Budding, Fundraising Manager at Hope for Tomorrow, said:
“Pat and the oncology team are very proactive at engaging with us as a charity and they work their socks off. They wanted to make sure they could do their best for their patients during this uncertain time; they told us they wanted a unit and we managed to turn that around really quickly for them. I can’t praise them enough.”
Each mobile unit costs the charity £198 per day to keep on the road. To support Hope for Tomorrow you can donate via https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/hft-urgentappeal-covid19
