St Luke’s and The Christie

St Luke’s working with The Christie

Here at St Luke’s we are proud to host Christie Clinics at the Hospice which have continued to operate weekly throughout the pandemic.

Launched in 2018, the clinics offer Christie patients the opportunity to receive the same chemotherapy, immunotherapy and hormonal treatments and support that they would have at the main hospital in Manchester – without the journey and the exhaustion this can bring.

We hope the warm, welcoming and friendly environment, which St Luke’s is so well known for, helps to put patients at ease as they undergo their treatment closer to home.

We caught up with Alison Boniface, a Sister with The Christie, who helped to launch the clinic in Winsford.

Alison, can you tell us a little bit more about the service?

Our clinic operates every Friday, from 8am until 4pm. We have five Chemotherapy chairs, which means our team of specialist nurses can deliver treatments to five patients at a time. We treat all types of cancer and see around 18 patients each day, the majority of which come from mid and south Cheshire. What are the advantages of having the clinic here?

Our nurses and patients love coming to St Luke’s as it’s a calm, relaxed atmosphere. As the groups are small, patients and nurses get to build a rapport with each other. There are no waiting times, free parking plus we’ve got all the facilities here.

How do patients get referred to the service?

Christie patients are referred via their consultant or they can self-refer and their eligibility is then checked. Having the link between the Christie and St Luke’s means that patients can also access other services offered by the Hospice, including complementary therapies, symptom control and counselling so patients can get an allround approach to their treatment and care.

The difference it makes...

We spoke to three ladies who attend The Christie Clinics at St Luke’s to find out how cancer treatment closer to home helps them.

For 27-year-old Mum Lorna Whiston the local clinics mean she can be back at home with her young children much quicker following her weekly treatment. Lorna from Haslington has a three-yearold son and twins who are just three months old. Lorna said: “I’ve been coming here every Friday for the past two months and I think it’s absolutely fantastic. Everyone is nice and friendly, and there’s a real sense of mutual understanding. I only live half an hour from St Luke’s, which means I can soon get back to the kids.”

41-year-old Karen Newton from Winsford likes the relaxed atmosphere at St Luke’s and is so grateful that she doesn’t have to make the journey into Manchester.

“I always feel a bit special coming here, as I was the very first patient to use the service! As a result, Alison and I have really bonded and have a good laugh. It’s so relaxed and the fact that I can be home in just 5 minutes means that if my treatment has been difficult that day, it’s one less thing to worry about.”

Meanwhile Sue Conde from Crewe appreciates the 1-2-1 care and the support she receives from nurses.

The 47-year-old explained: “I’ve been using the service since it started and I come here every third Friday as part of my treatment plan. The nurses are brilliant, it’s all 1-2-1 care, so I feel relaxed. If I’m feeling low, they soon pick me up and to be honest I actually look forward to coming.”

A note from our CEO

– thank you for standing by our side!

In a year where our whole community has been through so many challenges, I wanted to offer my sincere thanks from all the hospice team to you, our loyal and kind supporters.

Because of you we have been able to continue to care for vulnerable local people, providing them with the best service and helped to ease the burden on the NHS.

Even without the pandemic, the demand for palliative and end of life care is ever increasing. The UK has an ageing population who are living longer with complex lifelong limiting conditions. The NHS does not always have the resources to provide the care for these patients, which is where St Luke’s is able to help. Regrettably, the increase in deaths has also led to more referrals for our counselling team however we have added extra staffing and been able to meet this demand and offer vital support.

This challenging situation set alongside the realities of our limited resources means that St Luke’s Hospice is under greater pressure than ever before to find ways to do more with less. The pandemic has been a very challenging situation not only for the hospice but for the whole of the Health Service.

‘Thanks to you in 2020 we continued to care for vulnerable local people, providing them with timely end of life care, symptom management or the support that they, and their loved ones, needed.’

Despite these extraordinary challenges, there has been a real opportunity to drive positive change. In response to this St Luke’s has begun to look at how we can look after more people and reach out to support and care for more people outside the hospice. It has tested us but created an environment where we have had to adopt innovative digital solutions – a positive improvement!

The delivery of local healthcare is changing as the NHS set up Integrated Care Systems combining health and social care and we are going to make sure that St Luke’s is at the heart of the development of end of life care locally. Thank you for standing by us, here’s to a more positive spring and summer for our whole community. Neil