The Christie charity needs to raise just over £160,000 to cover the cost of refurbishing the old haematology ward that was vacated when patients moved to the new Haematology & Transplant Unit (HTU) in the Palatine Treatment Centre. 

The refurbished ward will be equipped to accommodate the new ambulatory care service for patients with blood cancers. Once their 24-hour infusion devices are set up, patients can then continue their treatment in the comfort of their own home or in a home like environment close to the hospital.

Ambulatory care refers to treatments that can now be offered to patients as day-case rather than them having a lengthy stay in hospital as an in-patient during their course of treatment.

Our project aims to improve the patient experience by enabling more haematology patients to receive treatment (chemotherapy, stem cell transplant and supportive care) at home or in a home like environment. We plan to achieve this by developing an ambulatory care service through the use of 24 hour infusion devices as well as establishing a dedicated team of staff to monitor and review patients. 

Instead of being admitted to an in-patient ward, patients would attend a newly re-furbished ambulatory care facility either daily or on alternate days to receive treatment, have the infusion devices set up, have blood tests and other monitoring before returning home if they live locally or to a hotel facility nearby.  

The old haematology inpatient ward that was vacated when the Palatine Treatment Centre opened in 2014 has been identified as an ideal space for this service. However, the space is in need of refurbishment and redecoration in order to provide an enhanced environment for patients who may spend up to 10 hours a day, on several days a week, during their course of treatment. In addition to the refurbishment, new equipment such as more 24-hour infusion devices and new chairs/beds would be needed to enable the delivery of this new service. 

Moving to an ambulatory service offers clear benefits both for patients who are able to receive treatment at home and in a home like environment, as well as those patients whose treatment has been delayed because a bed is not available for them. A total of 8 chairs/beds in the planned ambulatory facility will free up the equivalent of 6 in-patient beds so that more patients waiting to be admitted can begin treatment straight away rather than having their treatment deferred. 

We would be delighted to receive your donation in support of this project to create a dedicated ambulatory facility for haematology patients so that we can continue to improve the patient experience and hospital environment for current patients and for all those who will be referred to The Christie for haematology treatment in the future.

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