Chemotherapy nurses honoured for pioneering community service

Nurses from The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre are in the running for a high profile award recognising an innovative treatment service.

Clatterbridge in the Community sees specialist nurses visiting patients at work to administer treatment, saving people the time and stress of visiting clinics for treatment.

The team, from the Wirral based hospital Trust that treats patients across Merseyside and Cheshire, have been named as finalists in the Cancer Nursing category of the RCNi Nurse Awards, one of the most high profile ceremonies in the health profession.

Clatterbridge in the Community has been running for four years and began with patients being treated at home. It was extended last year to include treatment in the workplace.

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Dot Probert, manager for Clatterbridge in the Community, said: “Getting back to work is a really important part of the treatment journey for many of our patients and we want to do everything we can to help them do that while they are still receiving vital treatment in a safe and comfortable environment.

“For our work to be recognised in this way is a huge honour for the entire team and we are very proud to be a finalist.

“We are hoping the service will continue to grow and help more patients who want to be treated at work.

“For some patients it can be a struggle and extra stress travelling to our clinics for treatment, particularly if they are back at work. Treatment at work is a great way to avoid that stress.”

Currently patients who are receiving Herceptin (trastuzumab) or other treatments that are delivered by sub-cut injection are eligible for the service, but the team are hoping they can expand the treatments on offer in the future.

Glen Crisp from Warrington received her Herceptin injections at M&J Seafood in Birchwood, Warrington, where she works in accounts.

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Glen, 50, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in February 2017, said: “It is great as I could get back to work straight after my injection whereas I used to lose a whole day every time I had to have treatment. It really helped make life normal again and the nurses who treated me were wonderful.”

The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre delivers more than 57,000 outpatient chemotherapy treatments annually, including those delivered in the community and at nurse-led clinics held in district general hospitals across Merseyside and Cheshire, making this one of the most comprehensive networks of chemotherapy clinics in the UK.

The winners of the RCNi Nurse Awards will be announced on 3^rd July at the Park Plaza Hotel in London, hosted by television presenter Kate Garraway.

The other finalists in the Cancer Nursing category are the colorectal two-week wait team at Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust, Denise Crouch of University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust, Catherine Lloyd-Bennett of Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board and Amy Dugdale from Airedale NHS Foundation Trust.

For more information, visit www.clatterbridgecc.nhs.uk