£4 million breast care centre to be built at new Southmead Hospital (From Gazette Series)

£4 million breast care centre to be built at new Southmead Hospital

1:28pm Thursday 14th March 2013 in News By Marion Sauvebois

A BREAST care centre is due to be built as part of a £4 million project at the new Southmead Hospital.

The facilities which will serve the whole of the South Gloucestershire area when the £430 million super hospital opens in Spring 2014 will be located in Beaufort House, one of the complex’s historical buildings.

A Macmillan Wellbeing Centre, will also be created to provide emotional, practical and financial support for cancer sufferers, their families, friends and carers.

Dr Mike Shere, lead breast care clinician specialist at North Bristol NHS Trust, said: "The new breast care centre will provide a focal point for all breast cancer patients requiring the support and management from the breast team, from point of referral through to follow-up and support, all under one roof.

"We have worked very hard on these plans with our patients, clinicians and support groups and what we have come up with will be a functional, light and spacious building where patients can feel supported and relaxed. "

Until the new centre is built the service will continue to be based inside the current Southmead Hospital.

The breast care centre will be divided into separate areas allowing direct access to each of the two main clinical departments without patients having to pass through one to reach the other.

They will also be able to exit through courtyards following consultations for privacy.

The spacious and airy design will ensure patients are as comfortable and relaxed as possible. Both screening and symptomatic areas will have their own dedicated waiting and reception rooms.

The Macmillan Wellbeing Centre will be the first of its kind in Bristol, and support people before, during and after a cancer diagnosis.

Designed with patients and their families in mind, it will include a venue for support groups and offer a programme of physical activities for cancer sufferers.

It will be an information hub for patients with advice on everything from benefits to remaining in, or returning to work and nutrition.

Staff will also help patients better cope with cancer and treatment through complementary therapies and fatigue management.

Macmillan has pledged £1 million towards the facilities. Ed Murphy, senior Macmillan development manager, said: "This new Macmillan Wellbeing Centre means that, for the first time in Bristol, there will be a dedicated place for all the additional support that people need when they are diagnosed with cancer, both to help them through treatment and then to help with returning to a normal life afterwards, whatever that may mean for them."