Cancer team to trek three mountains in 24 hours to help fund patient care centre
Cancer team to trek three mountains in 24 hours to help fund patient care centre
30 May 2017
Surgeons, dieticians and other experts hope to conquer Snowdon, Ben Nevis and Scafell Pike in the space of just 24 hours.
The fundraising effort will help pay for a new centre supporting patients with cancers of the oesophagus and stomach - known as OG cancers.
It would provide a dedicated space for the hospital's award-winning PREPARE team to ready patients for life-changing surgery.
The PREPARE for Surgery programme is partly funded by Imperial Health Charity and brings together health specialists from different areas of expertise to give patients the best chance of making a full recovery after surgery.
Earlier this month, the team's 10 core members were named Surgical Team of the Year at the British Medical Journal Awards and also picked up the Patient Partnership prize.
Now they are aiming to raise tens of thousands of pounds towards a dedicated care centre, which would be the first multi-discplinary, peri-operative care centre in the UK.
The team say climbing the three peaks will be a symbolic challenge, mirroring the three stages of the patient experience - preparation, surgery and rehabilitation.
Venetia Wynter-Blyth, Nurse Consultant within the team, said: "We take account of the bigger picture, shifting the focus away from the illness and giving people the confidence to take control of their functional, nutritional and pscyhological wellbeing in preparation for surgery and recovery."
Imperial Health Charity recently awarded a grant of almost £100,000 to develop the programme. The money has helped to deliver personalised support for dozens of patients before and after surgery, including physical training, psychological assessments, respiratory exercises and nutritional guidance.
A dedicated care centre for the programme would provide a shared space for patients, reducing the likelihood of long waiting times.Krishna Moorthy, the team's Consultant Surgeon, said: "Our results have demonstrated a significant improvement in post-operative outcomes. Most importantly, far fewer patients now have post-operative complications like pneumonia. The rate has fallen from 60 per cent to 30 per cent."Before, patients needed to stay around 12 days in hospital but now they are well enough to go home after eight or nine days. Many are in fact more physically fit after surgery than they were at diagnosis."
The team will begin the National Three Peaks Challenge at Ben Nevis on the evening of Friday 30 June before catching a bus through the night in time to start Scafell Pike the following morning. The climb will be rounded off at Snowdon later in the afternoon on Saturday 1 July. They hope to raise £20,000 towards the overall cost of the new care centre.
To sponsor the team, visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/PREPAREforsurgery
