with ‘Hope for Tomorrow’ and the NHS we can be assured that we are receiving the very best of care
In May 2024, Robert received news that would challenge many – a diagnosis indicating six years to live – with prostate cancer that had spread to his hips, spine, chest cavity, and lymph nodes. Yet for Robert, as a journalist and public relations professional, the diagnosis has become an opportunity to continue making a difference.
A visiting fellow at Leeds Beckett University and an active contributor to healthcare governance, Robert serves on the Professional Standards Panel of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, advises on stroke care for West Yorkshire’s acute trusts, and is a public governor at Airedale NHS Foundation Trust. In the following pages, Robert shares his deeply personal reflections on his cancer pathway and how Hope for Tomorrow’s mobile cancer care units have become an integral part of this.
Here is Robert’s experience:
I can park too, for free, it’s a great bonus as I have a few mobility issues from a stroke I had five years ago, and I can combine a shopping trip to Morrisons before or after receiving treatment on Linda.
When you step inside ‘Christine’ or ‘Linda’ you are greeted with a warm smile from the Airedale Hospital’s clinical staff who put you at ease. Being greeted by your first name and offered a place to sit and hang your coat all helps calm any nerves you have.
The Airedale Hospital staff rotate between the Haematology and Oncology Day Unit (HODU) and the hope for Tomorrow units. So, as a patient you are receiving exactly the same excellent care as you do on HODU. It’s just the atmosphere in the mobile units, with just four or six seats inside which makes it all the more a calming and relaxed experience.
Some of Airedale General Hospital’s mobile cancer care unit team, including Will – specialist chemotherapy nurse, driver – Andrew, and Denice – senior clinical nurse.
‘Linda’ puts a smile on your face. But it’s not just her looks that turns heads, but the welcome you get when you step inside. I’m boarding ‘Linda’, one of two gleaming white and immaculately presented mobile cancer units assigned to Airedale NHS Foundation Trust in Steeton, West Yorkshire by the charity ‘Hope for Tomorrow’ to receive weekly treatment for my Stage 4 prostate cancer.
Unfortunately, for me, my cancer diagnosis is terminal, but the lack of foreboding I feel about stepping inside ‘Linda’, based at Morrisons supermarket in Skipton, North Yorkshire, helps ease any concerns and worries that I have about my palliative treatment.
The fact that ‘Linda’ is just one stop from the rail station in my home village of Cononley on the edge of Yorkshire Dales National Park is a big plus. It is barely a five-minute walk from Skipton rail station.
with ‘Hope for Tomorrow’ and the NHS we can be assured that we are receiving the very best of care
In May 2024, Robert received news that would challenge many – a diagnosis indicating six years to live – with prostate cancer that had spread to his hips, spine, chest cavity, and lymph nodes. Yet for Robert, as a journalist and public relations professional, the diagnosis has become an opportunity to continue making a difference.
A visiting fellow at Leeds Beckett University and an active contributor to healthcare governance, Robert serves on the Professional Standards Panel of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, advises on stroke care for West Yorkshire’s acute trusts, and is a public governor at Airedale NHS Foundation Trust. In the following pages, Robert shares his deeply personal reflections on his cancer pathway and how Hope for Tomorrow’s mobile cancer care units have become an integral part of this.
Here is Robert’s experience:
‘Linda’ puts a smile on your face. But it’s not just her looks that turns heads, but the welcome you get when you step inside. I’m boarding ‘Linda’, one of two gleaming white and immaculately presented mobile cancer units assigned to Airedale NHS Foundation Trust in Steeton, West Yorkshire by the charity ‘Hope for Tomorrow’ to receive weekly treatment for my Stage 4 prostate cancer.
Unfortunately, for me, my cancer diagnosis is terminal, but the lack of foreboding I feel about stepping inside ‘Linda’, based at Morrisons supermarket in Skipton, North Yorkshire, helps ease any concerns and worries that I have about my palliative treatment.
The fact that ‘Linda’ is just one stop from the rail station in my home village of Cononley on the edge of Yorkshire Dales National Park is a big plus. It is barely a five-minute walk from Skipton rail station.
I can park too, for free, it’s a great bonus as I have a few mobility issues from a stroke I had five years ago, and I can combine a shopping trip to Morrisons before or after receiving treatment on Linda.
When you step inside ‘Christine’ or ‘Linda’ you are greeted with a warm smile from the Airedale Hospital’s clinical staff who put you at ease. Being greeted by your first name and offered a place to sit and hang your coat all helps calm any nerves you have.
The Airedale Hospital staff rotate between the Haematology and Oncology Day Unit (HODU) and the hope for Tomorrow units. So, as a patient you are receiving exactly the same excellent care as you do on HODU. It’s just the atmosphere in the mobile units, with just four or six seats inside which makes it all the more a calming and relaxed experience.
Some of Airedale General Hospital’s mobile cancer care unit team, including Will – specialist chemotherapy nurse, driver – Andrew, and Denice – senior clinical nurse.
