William Powell, Welsh Liberal Democrat for Mid and West Wales, has joined Tenovus, Wales’ leading cancer charity, to help launch their second Mobile Cancer Support Unit which will treat an extra 25 people affected by cancer every single day.
The new unit, a specially fitted-out articulated lorry that costs around £100,000 to run every year, will be dedicated to providing support, treatment and education for people with lymphoedema; an incurable condition that 1 in 4 cancer patients will develop following treatment.
The new unit will travel to communities across Mid and West Wales and the service will be delivered in partnership with the NHS to meet increasing demand for lymphoedema support.
William Powell AM, said:
“It was a great pleasure to meet with Tenovus staff this morning to support the important work they undertake across Wales. Mobile support is particularly important across rural Wales, especially where cancer provision is conspicuously lacking.”
Claudia McVie, Chief Executive of Tenovus said:
“We are so pleased that we have been able to launch this new unit, with 50% of the funding from Welsh Government and 50% coming from Walk the Walk and other charitable trusts and foundations.
The unit will be staffed by specialist NHS teams who will be able to treat those people living with the after effects of cancer closer to their homes, and in convenient places. They will be able to provide massage therapy and advice on how to manage the condition, as well as providing counselling for people living with cancer.”
The unit will be stopping off at shopping centres and other easy to reach locations across Wales, and we hope that following patient feedback and better information gathering, we can extend the number of stops to ensure we are reaching as many people as possible.”
