A duchess, a music icon and a comedy favourite met young Scots fighting cancer at the opening of Glasgow's Teenage Cancer Trust unit
Sarah, Duchess of York, The Who frontman Roger Daltrey CBE and Scottish comedian Kevin Bridges officially opened the new Teenage Cancer Trust unit at the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow.
The famous trio are all patrons of the charity, which has invested £400,000 in the new unit to provide care for young people with cancer aged 13 to 16 from the West of Scotland.
Around 200 young people are diagnosed with cancer each year in Scotland. The new unit is a replacement for Teenage Cancer Trust’s interim facilities at the old Yorkhill Hospital and provides specialist state of the art facilities designed to feel more like a home from home than a hospital war.
Our work in Scotland is far from over. We need to maintain our services and extend them so that every individual young person with cancer can receive the best possible care - Roger Daltry
Conor's story
Connor Quinn from Glasgow was 12 when he was first diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia. He developed Acute Vascular Necrosis (AVN) during his treatment. After two years clear, he was re-diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia in February this year, aged 18.
He is currently receiving treatment on the unit. Connor helped design the social space in the new unit and spoke at the opening event today.
He said: “Being treated on a Teenage Cancer Trust unit made me feel less isolated and alone during my treatment. I have made so many friends here and had some wonderful fun experiences both on and off the unit. The emotional support has made a big difference to me, whether it is just sitting chatting to Ronan, my youth support coordinator or playing on the Xbox, it has been a great distraction at a difficult time for me.”
Long-term Honorary Patron of Teenage Cancer Trust, Sarah, Duchess of York, said: "I’ve been supporting Teenage Cancer Trust for 26 years and these units and services make an incredible difference. Here teenagers can be teenagers despite the cancer and the place feels more like home from home. Every young person with cancer should have access to this specialist care and that's what we're striving for."
Currently, almost half of young people with cancer in the UK are not treated within Teenage Cancer Trust units and don’t have access to their expert, specialist care. Teenage Cancer Trust needs to raise £2,400 a day to maintain all of their services in Scotland.
The charity needs to provide more Teenage Cancer Trust nurses in Scotland to reach all young people with cancer, wherever they live. To make this happen, Teenage Cancer Trust needs to raise £20 million a year every year by 2020.
Roger Daltrey CBE, long-term Honorary Patron, said: “Every time we open a new ward it’s a very proud moment for me because I know they make having cancer a little bit more bearable. But our work in Scotland is far from over. We need to maintain our services and extend them so that every individual young person with cancer can receive the best possible care."
Teenage Cancer Trust Ambassador for the West of Scotland, Kevin Bridges, said: “Meeting these young people who've been landed with cancer so early in their lives is very humbling. No one should go through that alone. I’m proud to see the people of Glasgow getting behind Teenage Cancer Trust and helping raise money to keep these services open.”
The celebrities were joined by Shona Robison MSP, Scotland's cabinet secretary for health and sport. She said: “It’s been an honour to visit the new Teenage Cancer Trust unit, and to meet staff, and patients and their families. The close partnership between NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and Teenage Cancer Trust is a great example of working together to ensure a patient-focused model of care, prioritising the unique and individual needs of every young person with cancer.”
The new unit is situated within haemato-oncology ward 2A on the second floor at the Royal Hospital for Children. A group of young cancer patients were involved in the overall design, which includes eight bedrooms in total, made-up of six single rooms and two single bone marrow transplant rooms, all with ensuite bathrooms.
There are also eight day-beds, split between two day case rooms. The bed areas have bespoke furniture, soft furnishings, wall art, mood lighting, TV and DVD players, wifi and laptops. The unit also has a large social area where young people can play computer games, listen to music, or watch films on the latest Smart TVs.
Teenage Cancer Trust funds a youth support coordinator at the unit who works alongside NHS funded colleagues, as well as a lead nurse who works across all of the charity’s services in Scotland.
Teenage Cancer Trust has four units in Scotland – one at the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre in Glasgow, and two in Edinburgh. The new unit complements the unit at the Beatson, which cares for the older age range of 16 to 24 year olds. This means local young people with cancer aged 13 to 24 across the West of Scotland will have access to the specialist services the charity provides.
John Brown CBE, chairman of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, said: “As a board, we are proud to be home to such a fantastic and unique service. Cancer can be devastating and we are committed to supporting the health and wellbeing of patients and their families, helping people’s lives by tailoring the service to each individual’s needs. I’ve heard truly inspiring stories today from young people and their families that remind us of the importance of offering care and support from the point of diagnosis. I would like to offer our thanks to everyone who has made this possible.”
Teenage Cancer Trust is now appealing to local communities to continue supporting the unit. Money raised will go towards the continued maintenance of the facilities, funding of specialist staff and supporting free cancer awareness sessions which are delivered in schools across Scotland.
Siobhan Dunn, chief executive at Teenage Cancer Trust, said: “Our unit here at the Royal Hospital for Children is absolutely incredible. Being in an environment that is like a home from home with others in the same situation makes such a huge difference. We’ve made great progress in making sure that young people with cancer have the best treatment, care and support in Scotland, but there is so much more to do. Right now, for every young person we help, there is another we can’t. That needs to change and our next challenge is to raise enough to ensure that no young person in Scotland faces cancer alone.”
To lend your support email [email protected] or call 020 7612 0370.
