I love being on the mobile unit. People tell us it’s more homely and less clinical. It’s not at all like walking into a hospital.
When Leigh Carvill crosses the finishing line in the London Landmarks Half Marathon in April next year it will be in honour of all the patients past and present who are helped through their cancer treatment by Hope For Tomorrow.
As the unit manager on the charity’s mobile unit based at East Kent Hospitals, Leigh knows the difference the unit can make to patient’s lives.
Running alongside her will be one of the unit’s drivers, Denis, and Leigh’s daughter Lucy, who until she signed up for the fundraiser had only ever run 5k.
I like to think as a team we can help people to cope because we have the time in our small, intimate environment to allay their fears and reassure them.
“It’s not just the cancer we are treating. People talk about their mental health and how their families are dealing with the situation.
“I went for dinner with a friend recently and had completely forgotten that a former patient worked in the restaurant.
“She recognised me straight away and went on to tell my friend how I had helped her to get through her treatment. Things like that make me realise what an asset the mobile unit is.
“We get to know the patients and they also get to know us. They ask me about my dog, my daughter and my grandson when they come in.
“There is a mutual interest in the lives of the patients and staff. It’s friendly and comforting. As soon as they step into the unit, it’s noticeable how quickly people seem to visibly relax.
Leigh says the unit can sometimes have more than 30 people in a day who might otherwise have had to travel a long way.
“It saves so much time and it stands to reason it is going to alleviate any extra stress.
“We see people chatting away with others who might be new to the unit. Just the ease at which everyone can interact can give anyone who is hesitant or nervous a real boost and put them at ease.”
One of Leigh’s regular patients, a lady in her 80s who attends the unit in Herne Bay sets her the challenge of coming up with a hymn or a song from the past in time for her next appointment. “We all sing along to it,” says Leigh.
“It’s easier if there’s a harvest festival or Christmas or Easter to find a hymn but otherwise, I am digging deep into the past to find something I think she will recognise.
“Recently we were all singing Cliff Richard’s Summer Holiday!”
The same patient made a special trip to the mobile unit in Dover for the Cuppa for Cancer event.
“She was treated like a real guest of honour by the other patients, it was lovely,” says Leigh.
“Patients have also recently been donating gifts for a cake and coffee afternoon and another of our drivers, Bryan, does talks for groups such as the Womens’ Institute and the Inner Circle and was recently presented with £750 for Hope For Tomorrow,” says Leigh.
She has worked in chemotherapy for 14 years, previously in the chemotherapy unit at the Kent and Canterbury Hospital.
“I always said if a job came up on the mobile unit I would love to do it,” says Leigh who got the chance to get on board in March 2023.
“I love being on the mobile unit. People tell us it’s more homely and less clinical. It’s not at all like walking into a hospital.
“Very often people don’t know what to says to friends or family when they get a cancer diagnosis and unwittingly all they can think of is to relay some horror story that they have heard about someone else going through treatment.
For me I think it is the small, intimate environment that works. Everyone recognises everyone and they care enough to ask if something is not quite right.
“If I swap a day with my Band 6 chemo sister, or she is on annual leave someone will always notice and ask where she is and if she is ok. Or if a regular patient isn’t there someone will ask after them. It’s very caring on both sides.”
Inevitably there are sad times on the unit if people haven’t made it through their treatment.
“There are some people who just get under your skin, it’s human nature and you can’t help but feel sad when it happens. We lost a couple of our younger patients last Christmas, and the team all felt that deeply. But we have to take the good with the bad and we are all there to support each other.”
I love being on the mobile unit. People tell us it’s more homely and less clinical. It’s not at all like walking into a hospital.
When Leigh Carvill crosses the finishing line in the London Landmarks Half Marathon in April next year it will be in honour of all the patients past and present who are helped through their cancer treatment by Hope For Tomorrow.
As the unit manager on the charity’s mobile unit based at East Kent Hospitals, Leigh knows the difference the unit can make to patient’s lives.
Running alongside her will be one of the unit’s drivers, Denis, and Leigh’s daughter Lucy, who until she signed up for the fundraiser had only ever run 5k.
“Patients have also recently been donating gifts for a cake and coffee afternoon and another of our drivers, Bryan, does talks for groups such as the Womens’ Institute and the Inner Circle and was recently presented with £750 for Hope For Tomorrow,” says Leigh.
She has worked in chemotherapy for 14 years, previously in the chemotherapy unit at the Kent and Canterbury Hospital.
“I always said if a job came up on the mobile unit I would love to do it,” says Leigh who got the chance to get on board in March 2023.
“I love being on the mobile unit. People tell us it’s more homely and less clinical. It’s not at all like walking into a hospital.
“Very often people don’t know what to says to friends or family when they get a cancer diagnosis and unwittingly all they can think of is to relay some horror story that they have heard about someone else going through treatment.
I like to think as a team we can help people to cope because we have the time in our small, intimate environment to allay their fears and reassure them.
“It’s not just the cancer we are treating. People talk about their mental health and how their families are dealing with the situation.
“I went for dinner with a friend recently and had completely forgotten that a former patient worked in the restaurant.
“She recognised me straight away and went on to tell my friend how I had helped her to get through her treatment. Things like that make me realise what an asset the mobile unit is.
“We get to know the patients and they also get to know us. They ask me about my dog, my daughter and my grandson when they come in.
“There is a mutual interest in the lives of the patients and staff. It’s friendly and comforting. As soon as they step into the unit, it’s noticeable how quickly people seem to visibly relax.
Leigh says the unit can sometimes have more than 30 people in a day who might otherwise have had to travel a long way.
“It saves so much time and it stands to reason it is going to alleviate any extra stress.
“We see people chatting away with others who might be new to the unit. Just the ease at which everyone can interact can give anyone who is hesitant or nervous a real boost and put them at ease.”
One of Leigh’s regular patients, a lady in her 80s who attends the unit in Herne Bay sets her the challenge of coming up with a hymn or a song from the past in time for her next appointment. “We all sing along to it,” says Leigh.
“It’s easier if there’s a harvest festival or Christmas or Easter to find a hymn but otherwise, I am digging deep into the past to find something I think she will recognise.
“Recently we were all singing Cliff Richard’s Summer Holiday!”
The same patient made a special trip to the mobile unit in Dover for the Cuppa for Cancer event.
“She was treated like a real guest of honour by the other patients, it was lovely,” says Leigh.
For me I think it is the small, intimate environment that works. Everyone recognises everyone and they care enough to ask if something is not quite right.
“If I swap a day with my Band 6 chemo sister, or she is on annual leave someone will always notice and ask where she is and if she is ok. Or if a regular patient isn’t there someone will ask after them. It’s very caring on both sides.”
Inevitably there are sad times on the unit if people haven’t made it through their treatment.
“There are some people who just get under your skin, it’s human nature and you can’t help but feel sad when it happens. We lost a couple of our younger patients last Christmas, and the team all felt that deeply. But we have to take the good with the bad and we are all there to support each other.”
