Former punk rocker turned television celebrity Toyah Willcox opened the new £1 million bone marrow transplant unit at the QE.

The new unit provides seven state-of-the-art single rooms designed for complex bone marrow transplantation. The Trust is able to offer more and more patients this specialised procedure, carrying out 121 transplants last year, compared with 35 in 1997. The unit is expected to perform 140 transplants this year.

As well as increasing the number of transplants carried out, the team has been able to bring in advances in medical technology which mean that treatment is offered more widely and results have been improved.

Toyah spent time talking to patients and staff about their experiences, sharing a joke and having her photograph taken with them. As part of her tour, she saw shown one of the bedrooms in the unit and was struck by what she saw.

“These are great rooms, with their en-suite facilities, and I’m impressed with what I see. This is a wonderful unit and I can see that it provides the best possible care for patients.”

The event was also attended by UHB Charities, Trust chairman John Charlton, nursing staff, consultant haematologist Prem Mahendra and UHB staff. John Charlton welcomed everyone to the opening before handing over to Prem Mahendra, who gave a brief history of the unit. Prem said: “We’re very proud of our unit and are delighted to be able to invite Toyah and our other guests to our official opening.

“I especially want to thank both UHB Charities who contributed £500,000 to the overall cost of developing the unit and the Trust’s chief executive Mark Britnell who has supported our cause for a long time.”

Patient Focus
Autumn 2004