In May 2018, the Solihull Haematology and Oncology Day Unit was built due to the increasing strains and pressures on the chemotherapy department Ward 19 at Heartlands Hospital. The stresses meant that chemotherapy patients at Heartlands Hospital were having their treatments delayed and new patients were being put onto a waiting list.

However, due to the very generous support of local charities and businesses, the new unit at Solihull has been able to offer an extension of chemotherapy treatment to thousands more cancer patients and overall, the number of patients that can now be treated, has increased by an amazing 170%.

At Solihull Hospital, some patient’s chemotherapy treatments can range from three to six sessions over a number of days and each session can sometimes last for up to 10 hours per day. Therefore, many patients and their families can find this to be a very stressful and uncomfortable time.

One of the many patients that had been treated on the Unit was Samantha Dearne; Samantha was diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer. Inflammatory breast cancer is a rare type of breast cancer that is not necessarily detectable by a mammogram alone. During her diagnosis, Samantha was treated on the Heamatology and Oncolgy Day Unit at Solihull Hospital where she was regularly joined by her Mum, Christina Steel and Dad Alan Steel for support.

Sadly, Samantha’s cancer was extremely aggressive and on 20 December 2018 she passed away at the age of just 46. During Samantha’s treatment she was made aware of Solihull Hospital Charity by the various nurses and consultants who treated her. She made it her mission to fundraise for the Charity in order to provide the Unit with added extras that the NHS could not fund. Since her passing, her family and friends who work at John Lewis Customer Delivery Hub in Solihull have continued to fundraise in her memory, just as she would have wanted.

Solihull Hospital Charity received a generous donation of £1,250 from the John Lewis Customer Delivery Hub in Solihull  who had raised the money by holding a raffle in memory of Samantha; there to deliver the cheque was John Niven, Debbie Grey, Julie Creen, Christina Steel Claire Powell, Debbie Brookes and Sam Lawley. The team decided to donate the money to help support the brand new therapy garden appeal.

For this appeal, the Charity would like to create a safe, relaxing and therapeutic area outside the Unit to help alleviate the stresses that the thousands of our chemotherapy patients face. Our aim is to provide our patients and their relatives with a tranquil therapy garden filled with beautiful plants, a private gazebo and space to plant herbs and vegetables.

After a cancer diagnosis, it can often seem like you are no longer in control of your life - the cancer has taken over and with it comes a myriad of doctor appointments and hospital visits. Spending time working gently in a garden environment or sitting and absorbing the tranquillity of nature, goes part way to giving patients back some control.

Rachel Learmonth, Fundraising Manager at Solihull Hospital Charity said: “I would like to say a huge thank you on behalf of the hospital charity to everyone who helped to raise such a phenomenal amount of money towards our therapy garden appeal. The hospital charity’s aim is to go ‘over and above’ for each and every one of our patients and thanks to our generous supporters like the John Lewis team we can make a real difference to people’s lives.”
If you would like to learn more about Solihull Hospital Charity and how you can help to support its Heamatology and Oncology Day Unit, please visit hospitalcharity.org/cancercentre

If you’d like more information about how Solihull Hospital Charity supports patients, please go to www.solihullhospital.org.uk 

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