It’s been 3 years since Yeovil District Hospital (YDH) moved its Oncology and Haematology Day services into the St Margaret’s Hospice Care’s Yeovil site and patients have continued to reap the rewards this unique partnership has brought.
When YDH moved its services to St Margaret’s Hospice in May 2020 the UK was in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic and it was a scary time for many, especially those undergoing cancer treatment. But with the comprehensive infection prevention measures that the hospice had put in place it was deemed to be a safe sanctuary for patients whose ability to fight off coronavirus could be compromised. As a result, YDH and St Margaret’s joined forces to ensure patients with cancer were able to safely receive their chemotherapy treatment.
During Covid many patients who needed to have chemotherapy treatment and attend oncology outpatient appointments felt anxious about travelling to and from a large, busy acute hospital to get their care so when we were approached by YDH about this move we wanted to do everything we could to help."Clare Marks, Head of Nursing Services
“We know how important it is for patients to feel at ease while having their treatment at what is a difficult and emotional time and wanted to ensure they were in comfortable surroundings to do that.”
For many patients, having their chemotherapy treatment is their only contact with St Margaret’s Hospice, but for some people, having treatment in the Yeovil hospice means they can access a range of support, clinical, supportive and spiritual, from St Margaret’s Hospice at the same time. Periodically St Margaret’s clinicians will sit in on YDH outpatient oncology appointments while patients are having chemotherapy treatment to offer advice and signpost them to St Margaret’s services as well as discuss their treatment if they need intervention from the hospice.
Being able to move our oncology and haematology day unit to the St Margaret’s Hospice building at the beginning of the pandemic allowed us to provide a space for our patients to continue to have chemotherapy without any risk of getting COVID-19."Sharon Cable, Somerset NHS Foundation Trusts' Operational Manager for the unit
“It also meant that we didn’t need to reduce the number of patients we could treat to comply with social distancing requirements, and this has helped us to keep our waiting times for chemotherapy at a low level.”
The two organisations worked side by side throughout the pandemic to ensure YDH’s oncology service could continue to deliver outpatient treatment for those in South Somerset and following the success of this, it continued post pandemic.
This open communication between St Margaret’s and YDH has meant St Margaret’s clinicians can be there to support YDH patients to access services which could help them including Physiotherapy, Complementary Therapy, Spiritual Care support, Lymphoedema and the Sunflower Centre Day Service and can offer the best support to patients when they are referred to the hospice.
At the end of 2022 YDH signed a contract to move its Oncology and Haematology Service to St Margaret’s Yeovil site until 2027 “We’re delighted that our NHS colleagues at YDH have moved their Oncology and Haematology Service onto our Yeovil site on a permanent basis as working alongside their nurses has been very helpful not only for us but our patients,” Clare added.
Having open communication with YDH’s medical and nursing teams has meant we can have quick discussions about patients’ treatment, reducing the need for further visits and ensuring patients are appropriately referred to services which can help them. It also reduces disruption for patients and their families which is fantastic as we want to make sure their treatment runs as smoothly as possible, and they can access the support they need.”Clare
“We’ve had positive feedback from our patients, too, who have told us that they were relieved and grateful not to have to attend the main hospital for their chemotherapy appointments as it made them feel safer during the pandemic,” Sharon said. “They also really liked the larger space inside the building, beautiful garden, and free parking for themselves and their families and friends.”
Feedback from patients who have accessed both services has been exceptional, and the two organisations are excited to continue to work side by side to support patients in the future.
“We’re pleased that we’ve been able to support people living in the East of the county who are undergoing cancer treatment in a unique way with our NHS colleagues from YDH,” Clare said.
“We are excited to continue to work alongside YDH in the future to help people with cancer to get the treatment they need so they can live as well as they can for as long as they can and get the support they need, whenever they need it.”Clare