In December 2020, Cardiff & Vale Health Charity celebrated 10 years of making things better for patients, visitors, staff and the wider community.
The Health Charity had planned to hold a 10 year celebration event, looking back at the major projects it has funded and celebrating the contributions of their donors, fundraisers, volunteers and community partners during the past decade. Unfortunately, due to Coronavirus these plans were cancelled. Instead, the Health Charity will be taking a look-back at how its fundraisers, donors, volunteers and community partners have helped to change things for the better over the past ten years.
In 2010, the Health Charity financially supported the build and some of the specialist equipment required at the Breast Centre at University Hospital Llandough which was officially opened by Welsh Fashion Designer and Breast Centre Patron, Julian Macdonald OBE.
The Health Charity launched the Breast Centre Appeal to raise funds to support the service with cutting-edge technology and bespoke treatment areas for their patients.
The unit treats all patients with breast problems under one roof. The centre of excellence opened in October 2010, providing essential diagnostic services and outpatient appointments for almost 4,000 people a year.
Sumit Goyal, Consultant Breast Surgeon at Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, said: “Since opening The Breast Centre in 2010 we’ve made a huge difference to the treatment and care that breast cancer patients receive.
“Previously, patients had to travel to several different sites and have several different appointments to receive their diagnosis and treatment. Since The Breast Centre has been open, patients have their mammogram, ultrasound and get the results on the same day.
“The unit makes everything much more streamlined for patients and a lot easier to understand at a time when they are very anxious.
“The unit was designed with the patient as the focus and the services are provided in a more personalised environment.”
The Breast Centre accepts patients who are referred by their GP – 90% of patients are not diagnosed with breast cancer. The service sees some 70 to 80 people, aged 14 to more than 100 every week and up to 5% of the patients are men.
A number of key developments have also happened during the past ten years at The Breast Centre:
- A gym – named as the Mccarthy Suite, has been installed so that patients can benefit from an exercise prescription service to aid with their recovery
- A physiotherapist and assistant physiotherapist have been funded to assist breast cancer patients with their recovery through exercise, utilising this gym, in addition to private swimming sessions available to anyone that has gone through breast cancer surgery and, during the pandemic, online support exercise videos and zoom classes
- Development of the BAPS App
- Purchase of IT equipment and app subscriptions to enable online contact with our patients during lockdown
- State-of-the-art equipment such as scanning and mammogram kit has been upgraded
Irene Hicks and her team of long-term fundraisers who regularly raise money for The Breast Centre have, to date, raised an incredible £161,000 and have pledged to support the ongoing use of the gym, which was named the McCarthy Suite in memory of her three sons.
Some other key fundraisers who have made a huge contribution to The Breast Centre Appeal are Mandy Weston, a former patient and member of our Breast Centre Appeal Committee, who helps to organise the annual Pink Tie Gala Dinner, and ever popular Strictly Top Dancer competition along with support from her daughter and business partner Cariann Emanuelli.
The Breast Centre Appeal, is always very fortunate, as those who have had to use the service, or family members of those who have been unwell, are always so grateful for the care and support received. This often leads to some of those individuals to fundraise for the appeal and give something back, and their inspiring stories often inspire others to do the same.
If you’d like to support the ongoing work of The Breast Centre, you can make a donation here: https://healthcharity.wales/appeal/breast-centre-appeal/ or to find out more about how you can support future activities and events please email fundraising.cav@wales.nhs.uk