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King Edward Ward

Story from nhs.uk

"King Edward Ward"

About: Royal Berkshire Hospital

Back for a third round of chemo. I am always so impressed with the nurses on the chemo ward. They are extremely busy but there attention to all the patients is second to none. They are kind, always have time to explain treatments and chat. Sometimes they are completely frazzled from the work load and we worry they are being looked after too.

King Edward Ward toilet facilities could do with a facelift as they are quite small, old and in need of some TLC. When you walk in with your drip stand there's only 1 cubicle that can accommodate you. Unfortunately at the moment the reception area has been flooded and the ceiling is being fixed. It was very chilly in that area today. I would would like to know what the RBH and Newbury Hospital will be doing about the mobile unit which has been closed for months now. It was so handy to pop in and get my treatment then be able to go back to work.

It's now taking a 3 hour round trip to have a 40 minute chemo, it's exhausting. I've been trying to take myself to chemo as it's not too harsh which gives me my own independence but after the last few times of spending up to an hour trying to get parked I've given up.

Not only does this inconvenience me but I've also had to get my husband to take 3 hours out of work to drop me off. He leaves the site then comes back when I've finished which he doesn't mind doing but this does take my independence away.

I was very distressed the other day before I got in to chemo due to the car park situation but the nurses were so lovely and got me relaxed and ready for treatment. If I'd been to the mobile unit it takes 10 minutes to get there, a quick 40 minute chemo and I'm done.

I know other users of the mobile unit are equally as fed up especially when they are feeling poorly. It's such a shame after all the money that has been raised that it sits empty.

The burden on my purse is not great for diesel either at at time when I've had to reduce my hours which in turn has decreased my salary.

Please please can we get this back up and running again.

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Responses

Response from Royal Berkshire Hospital 7 years ago
Royal Berkshire Hospital

Submitted on 09/12/2016 at 11:44
Published on nhs.uk on 10/12/2016 at 01:31

Thank you so much for posting a review on NHS Choices. We appreciate your comments for the nurses on King Edward Ward – they do work extremely hard. In terms of facilities we are currently reviewing the toilet facilities as we are aware they are not fit for purpose. The ceiling has now been repaired and the waiting room is back to normal. The repairs to North Block roof were completed by 2 December 2016.

We are disappointed that the mobile chemotherapy unit in West Berkshire will not be re-opening prior to the completion of the permanent chemotherapy unit planned for October 2017. We are aware that the local provision of chemotherapy on the mobile unit was highly regarded by our patients and the Trust has a continuing commitment to provide this for the future once the new unit opens. This difficult decision has been taken in partnership with Hope For Tomorrow who donated the unit to us. The Trust has not been able to utilise the mobile unit to its fullest extent because of logisitical, financial and staffing difficulties.

Hope For Tomorrow have taken the entirely understandable decision to relocate the unit to another area where it may benefit a greater number of patients. We would like to thank Hope For Tomorrow for their support and commitment to the principles of giving care closer to home and helping us to prove the case for the permanent unit.

We are currently exploring a new space in West Berkshire Community Hospital for us to use for chemotherapy administration in early 2017 until the new unit is completed in October that year.

Thank you again for your feedback and comments.

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