A suite exclusively for cancer patients to undergo pre-op tests to determine their fitness for surgery has now opened at the Royal Preston Hospital, having been funded by Rosemere Cancer Foundation with a grant from the Furness Building Society.
Plans for the new Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing (CPET) Suite were first unveiled last October. Its creation and equipment, including an exercise bike, came with a price tag of £29,000, which the Furness Building Society has provided.
Now that work on the suite is finished, it has gone into immediate continuous use as all patients facing major surgery undergo CPET so doctors looking after them can accurately measure their lung and heart health. This information helps medics determine if a patient is fit enough to withstand surgery and to plan operations tailored to each individual’s needs.
The new suite, which is in the anaesthetic department, replaces an area within the physiotherapy department, where patients previously had to undergo CPET.
The donation from the Furness Building Society comes from its own funds, based on the collective balances held in all Rosemere Cancer Foundation Affinity Savings Accounts. Rosemere Cancer Foundation is one of a number of good causes customers can choose to support through opening an Affinity Savings Account at any of its branches.
In the eight years the building society has offered a Rosemere Cancer Foundation Affinity Savings Account, it has donated a whopping £225,320.52 to the charity.
Sue Heron, Marketing and Sales Director at the Furness said: “It is just fantastic to see this year’s donation being put to such good use. Our staff, especially at our Preston branch, work hard to support the charity and the more our customers save in the Rosemere Cancer Foundation Affinity Savings Account , the more the charity will benefit from Furness Building Society.”
Rosemere Cancer Foundation spends the donations it receives on creating patient-focused treatment areas like the new CPET suite, vital equipment, research and training that cannot be funded by the NHS. It also funds those things that can make the cancer journey a little more comfortable such as free access to complementary therapies for all newly diagnosed patients.
Such work forms the backbone of its effort to bring world class cancer treatments and services to local cancer patients throughout Lancashire and South Cumbria via their local hospitals and Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust’s regional specialist cancer treatment centre, the Rosemere Cancer Centre at the Royal Preston Hospital.
