Helping cancer patients in Scarborough

York Against Cancer’s Mobile Chemotherapy Unit is helping Scarborough hospital to cope in the battle against Covid-19. 

The first of its kind in Yorkshire, the Mobile Chemotherapy Unit was presented to the York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust by York Against Cancer in 2017 after the charity raised over £1m for the Unit. 

Its usual role is to bring chemotherapy closer to patients in outlying areas, however during the current coronavirus crisis it has been sited at Scarborough Hospital so that cancer treatments can be given outside the town’s main hospital buildings.

The change has been made to help keep vulnerable patients safe and the award-winning unit is now playing a key role in the cancer service strategy of the Trust as a whole.

A similar separation of the services has come into force in York, with people visiting the city’s Nuffield Hospital for cancer treatments rather than visiting the main hospital in Wigginton Road. 

Julie Russell, general manager of York Against Cancer, said she did not hesitate to agree when she was approached about siting the unit at Scarborough during the epidemic.

“It was just the right thing to do to protect patients,” she said. “We are all really proud of the MCU and delighted that it has proven its worth once more.

“It’s all thanks to the generosity of our supporters.”