SOUTH SOMERSET NEWS: Mobile chemotherapy unit coming to Chard

CANCER charity Hope for Tomorrow and Musgrove Park Hospital are pleased to announce a fourth location in the county for their mobile chemotherapy unit - this time in South Somerset.

The unit will begin to visit the Tesco supermarket site at Chard on August 26, 2014, and will continue to go there on a weekly basis.

This not only saves cancer patients in the area travelling long distances for treatment, but it also cuts down on potentially stressful waits, parking and fuel costs.

Patients under the care of Taunton-based Musgrove Park Hospital, who meet criteria related to their condition and treatment plan, are offered chemotherapy treatment on the mobile unit, which is staffed by specialist nurses from the hospital.

Among the charity’s patrons are British motor racing legend, Sir Stirling Moss, and his wife Lady Susie Moss.

The mobile chemotherapy unit is named Bumble after Lady Moss’ mother.

“We are thrilled that the Somerset Mobile Chemotherapy Unit ‘Bumble’ will be giving treatment at Chard from the end of September allowing more patients locally to benefit from having their chemotherapy closer to home,” they said.

The other sites for the mobile unit are Minehead, West Mendip and Bridgwater.

It costs Hope for Tomorrow £260,000 to build and maintain a Mobile Chemotherapy Unit for three years.

The opening of the Chard facility on August 26 will be at 10.30am. Scott Green, partnership development manager at Hope for Tomorrow, and representatives from Taunton and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust will be there and members of the public are invited to go along and find out more.

As they receive no Government funding, they are completely reliant on voluntary donations. To support their projects, please visit the website www.hopefortomorrow.org.uk.

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