THE Western Trust and Macmillan Cancer Support have unveiled plans for a new Health and Wellbeing Campus at Altnagelvin Area Hospital for patients, carers and their families living with cancer and other long term conditions such as diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, arthritis and hypertension.

The joint plans include the construction of a new £1 million purpose-built Macmillan Cancer Information and Support Centre together with the refurbishment of the adjacent Agnes Jones House to support long term condition management of chronic conditions.

The proposed developments will use an interlinking walkway and garden between the Macmillan Cancer Information and Support Centre and Agnes Jones House.

Construction work is due to begin in the Autumn 2015 with the new campus planned be fully operational by late 2016 at the same time as the new Radiotherapy Unit at Altnagelvin.

Western Trust Chairman Gerard Guckian said: “This is another exciting chapter in the development of cancer services in the Western Trust.

“We are delighted to be working in partnership with Macmillan Cancer Support on this ground-breaking project to provide a dedicated information and support facility for people living with and beyond cancer.

“This project also gives us the opportunity to expand on the provision and delivery of information and support services for those living with long term chronic conditions.

“As a Trust our aim is to provide high quality patient-centred care and this partnership with Macmillan is just that – wrapping the care and support around the patient and their family as and when they need it.

“My view is that this has the capacity, along with our new Radiotherapy Centre, to transform cancer care in the North West of Ireland. Although part of this project is about building new facilities it starts and ends with people – patients and the professionals and volunteers who will care for and support them.

“We hope that we can take some of the fear out of the cancer diagnosis and let patients know that no-one will have face cancer alone.

“The Health and Wellbeing Campus will no doubt touch the lives of so many people in the Western Trust area and in the Republic of Ireland for years to come.”

The campus will provide a range of services coordinated around the needs of patients and their families.

These will include information library facilities, wig fitting services, health and wellbeing clinics, complementary therapies, art therapy courses, gentle exercise classes, counselling sessions.

Macmillan will be investing a total of £1.5 million in both developing the Macmillan Cancer Information Centre as part of the Health and Wellbeing Campus and providing initial staff funding.

The Western Trust will also contribute £500k from general capital and various Trust Funds.

Macmillan are also supporting the establishment of local outreach information centres in the entrance to the new Radiotherapy Unit, the South West Acute Hospital in Enniskillen and the Omagh Hospital and Primary Care Complex.

The leading cancer charity is also funding three posts to work across the entire Western Health and Social Care Trust area.

They are also planning to provide information to GP Practices, libraries and other community venues.

Macmillan Senior Development Manager, Paula Kealey, says: “Macmillan will be working closely with the Western Trust, other charity and voluntary groups and organisations across the border to ensure that people coming from north and south get all the information and support they need, here on the health and wellbeing campus.

“The Western Trust covers a huge area and that’s why we have plans to provide support in Omagh and Enniskillen because, once people finish their hospital treatment, they need information and support services closer to home.”

Bronagh Corry says the health and wellbeing campus will provide vital services for cancer patients and people with long term conditions.

The Strabane mother of three was diagnosed with breast cancer two years ago.  At the time, her youngest son was only two years old.

“Everything I did, I did with my children in mind. So I decided I’d do whatever I had to, in order to get better. In my case, that meant going to Belfast for three weeks to get radiotherapy.  I spent my 40th birthday in Belfast in accommodation provided by Friends of the Cancer Centre. It wasn’t easy to be away from home.

“The radiotherapy unit will make such a difference to local people – and people living just across the border.  It will take the burden of travel to Belfast or Dublin away.

“And the new Health and Wellbeing Campus will help people after their treatment ends. Learning to self-manage your condition and getting help – whether it be information, benefits advice, counselling or access to exercise classes and patient support groups – is so important when you’re on the road to recovery.”