Ormskirk Hospital receives top cancer award

Ormskirk Hospital has scooped a national award for its commitment to patients living with incurable blood cancer.

The hospital has received the Myeloma UK Clinical Service Excellence Programme (CSEP) Award in recognition of its outstanding care and dedication to patients with myeloma, an incurable blood cancer which claims the lives of 3,000 people in the UK each year.

Staff were praised for their efforts to improve patients’ quality of life and eagerness to listen to their needs.

The accolade, awarded by blood cancer charity Myeloma UK, recognises hospitals’ commitment to raising the bar for treatment and providing compassionate care.

Gemma Alston, Haematology Clinical Nurse Specialist at Ormskirk Hospital, said: “The Myeloma UK Clinical Service Excellence Programme award recognises the efforts of the haematology team and is testament to the team’s commitment to advancing patient care. 

“We are proud to offer a service which is highly responsive to our patients’ needs. It has been a rewarding experience to work alongside Myeloma UK to complete the award and celebrate areas in which we excel but also identify areas which can be improved. We hope this award helps to promote confidence for new patients and reaffirms our dedication to improving outcomes and quality of life for our existing patients.”

Myeloma is especially hard to spot as the symptoms are often vague and dismissed as ageing or other minor conditions.

By the time many patients are diagnosed their cancer has often advanced and they require urgent treatment. This can significantly impact their chances of survival and quality of life. 

Rhys Owens, Clinical Practice Services Senior Projects Officer at Myeloma UK, said: “Myeloma is a challenging cancer which keeps coming back and can be really difficult to cope with both physically and mentally, so we were hugely impressed with the hospital’s efforts to ease patients’ burden.

“Gemma and the team are there every step of the way, checking in with patients before, during and after treatment, to help them navigate the rollercoaster of living with an incurable cancer and signpost support services as soon as they need them.

“Staff also work closely with the local support group to make sure no one with myeloma is left behind. Following the group’s feedback, disabled access was improved at the entrance to the hospital.

“To see the team going the extra mile day after day to give those affected by myeloma a fighting chance to live well with cancer is truly inspiring.”

David Simister, from Ainsdale, was diagnosed with myeloma in March 2013, after months of agonising back pain left him wheelchair-bound. He was 58 years old.

By the time his cancer was caught, his spine had collapsed and he was “within weeks of being completely paralysed.” He’s lost 4 inches in height as a result.

More than a decade on, the father-of-six continues to defy the odds. He has now thanked staff for supporting him through the rollercoaster of cancer treatment and nursing him back to health.

“I was pretty much in a wheelchair when I was first diagnosed,” said the retired civil servant. “I was within weeks of being completely paralysed. I was very affected by myeloma.

“It’s a total blur in the beginning when you’re in the hospital. It’s very hard to take it all in. You’re living day-to-day with the treatment and appointments, and you don’t really get into the ins and outs of what myeloma is and the outlook until later.

“The staff have been very diligent and helpful in dealing with side effects and administering the treatment. And they’ve been able to answer all my questions. You can always get hold of somebody if you have any worries. And they’ll always ring you back.

“You get to know the staff personally and they get to know you.”

Myeloma occurs in the bone marrow and currently affects over 24,000 people in the UK. 

It is a relapsing-remitting cancer, meaning that although many patients will experience periods of remission following treatment, the disease will inevitably return.  

While it is incurable, myeloma is treatable in the majority of cases. Treatment is aimed at controlling the disease, relieving the complications and symptoms it causes, and extending and improving patients’ quality of life.

David added: “Before I was diagnosed, I knew something was definitely wrong so it was giving a label to it but being told that you’ve relapsed was more of a shock to me than finding out I had myeloma,” he said.

“But the treatment options since I was first diagnosed have come on in leaps and bounds.”

Keen to help fellow patients and their families locally, in 2016 David co-founded the West Lancs and Merseyside Myeloma Support Group. Over the last few years, the group has gone from strength to strength and now counts around 100 patients and carers.

“It’s a pity the group wasn’t available to me when I was diagnosed but that’s why we started it, so people aren’t on their own,” he said.

“You go through a very intense period of treatment and then effectively you’re on your own with your partner.

“It’s often easier to speak to other patients to see how they’re managing. The mental side of it is very important. There’s always someone else in the group who’s on the same treatment as you.”