Cancer care in Oxfordshire is first class, say patients (From Oxford Mail)

Cancer care in Oxfordshire is first class, say patients

7:00am Monday 10th August 2009 in Search By Amanda Williams

CANCER sufferers young and old have spoken out about the “first class” care they received at Oxfordshire’s hospitals.

Many contacted the Oxford Mail to speak out about the quality of their treatment after the cancer charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer claimed there was a gap between services offered to young and old cancer patients in the county.

From cleaners, to nurses, to doctors, each had nothing but praise for the treatment they received at Oxford’s Churchill Hospital, the city’s new Cancer Centre, and the Horton Hospital in Banbury.

And as the summer’s full programme of fundraising activities for the Cancer Centre – and for the number of support charities which operate in the city – begins, they have chosen to speak out about how cancer has affected their lives.

On Sunday, October 18, at 10.30am, It’s Not Just A Walk in the Park will be raising funds for both the Oxford Cancer Centre and the Oxford Heart Centre. Walkers can choose which cause they support. The event will be led by Wesley Smith and costs £7.50 to enter. Walkers are asked to try to raise £50. To take part call 01865 743444 or visit charitablefunds.nhs.uk/events Cancer Research UK’s Run 10k takes place at Blenheim Palace on Sunday, September 27, at 10.30 am. It is hoped 2,500 people will take part. To enter, visit run10k.org A recent event at Charlbury, in which about 1,500 women took part in a joint 5km and 10km sponsored race around Cornbury Park, raised an estimated £127,000 for Cancer Research UK.

Macmillan Cancer Support’s World's Biggest Coffee Morning will be held nationwide on Friday, September 25, with many events organised around Oxford. For more information go to macmillan.org.uk

ANNE Marie Lanham, from Abingdon, said if anyone had any complaints about the NHS, they should try going to a foreign hospital.

Mrs Lanham, 50, who was diagnosed with breast cancer two years ago, said she had been shocked by the difference in services abroad and at home on a recent visit to Portugal.

She said: “First of all I had a lumpectomy and we thought we had caught it, but I had quite an aggressive form of cancer so I had to return for a full mastectomy.

“Following my treatment I had a few complications. I had experience of being in the old Churchill Hospital and the new one but everyone, from the cleaners, to the nurses, to the sisters, to the doctors, was exceptional. I just can’t fault it.

“We had a holiday recently after my treatment and I had to go into hospital in Portugal.

“It really brought home the difference in treatment.

“I got what I needed, eventually, but it was so very different. Cancer is a frightening experience but the little things they have here, such as the gardens, and the art work, all give you something else to think about other than the illness.”

MOTHER Fiona Walton said she first decided to get a lump she found on her breast checked out after watching a programme about Jade Goody.

Mrs Walton, 33, from Carterton, said she been watching the television with her children, Hollie, eight, and Alfie, five, when a show about the former reality TV star, who died of cervical cancer this year, caught her attention.

She said: “I wasn’t really that concerned to begin with, but as it was around the same sort of time she was being diagnosed and working out how to tell her children, I decided to get it checked out. It was just before Christmas that I went to see the GP.

"I went to the hospital a few days later and they diagnosed me straight away. From that minute everyone was absolutely brilliant. I had the lump removed in January and then began chemotherapy in February.

“The staff at the Churchill Hospital did everything they could to make me feel as comfortable as they possibly could. “There is someone at the hospital if you need them 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They don’t deserve to be criticised, they are the best of the best in my opinion and deserve praise for what they do.”