'Chemotherapy plans for our new hospital': Ward manager Fiona's blog

Posted 14th May 2015

Fiona Courtnell (pictured), Ward Manager and Senior Nurse on our Delamere chemotherapy daycase unit, is part of the clinical user group designing our new hospital in Liverpool. She's written this blog on plans for Chemotherapy in the new hospital, which is due to open in 2018.

What's fantastic about Transforming Cancer Care is the fact that all the clinical departments in the new hospital are being designed by staff who actually work in those areas. I'm part of the team designing the Chemotherapy unit and what's struck me is how open the architects are to changing the plans, based on our feedback.

We've literally redesigned the whole unit and got involved in everything from how many loos there are to making sure the rooms provide patients with even better protection against infection. One example is the sister's office. Originally it was at the entrance to the unit but we said it would be better if the sister was in the middle with the patients and nurses, so the architects have moved it there.

Rather than just copying what we do on the current Delamere unit, we have been looking at how we can make the new Chemotherapy area even better for patients. A few of us went to University College London Hospital (UCLH) a couple of weeks ago to see their chemotherapy unit and we asked them a lot of questions because we're looking at a similar approach. We want the unit to be really open and airy with lots of light. Patients will stay downstairs in the main waiting area until they get called up to chemotherapy and we'll have a small 'sub-waiting area' on the unit.

We're going to try and cater for different patients' preferences. Some like privacy while others like more social interaction. We'd like people to be able to get up and move around while having treatment, if they want. We're planning to have a beverage area in the middle so patients can get up and make themselves a cup of tea or coffee. We've also got a lot of outside space on the terrace so people will be able to go out there, depending on what treatment they're having. At UCLH they also have chairs that are a bit like pods that you can pull around you if you want a bit more privacy.

One thing we're conscious of is the fact that treatment is changing all the time. Gene therapy is coming along. Oral tablets are replacing intravenous chemotherapy. We can now give drugs like Herceptin at home by injecting it sub-cutaneously (i.e. under the skin rather into a vein). We're looking at how we can make the new unit as 'future-proof' as possible.

Research and clinical trials are also really important and the new unit will have two rooms for use by the trials nurses for patient consultations, assessments and treatment. We don't have dedicated rooms for this on the current unit. IT is also important – we're looking at how nurses might use mobile technology and one computer hub to access electronic patient records rather than having lots of PCs throughout the unit.

One of the biggest debates has been about the number of treatment spaces we will need, looking at how chemotherapy is changing. Our aim is to provide as much care as we can closest to where each patient lives, reducing the need for people on less complex treatments to come to the main site. We're already expanding chemotherapy at home and we'd like to increase the range of chemotherapy we provide outside the main cancer centre. We haven't reached a decision yet on how many treatment spaces we will need in Liverpool.

All in all, I'm really excited about the new Chemotherapy unit. I think it's going to be fantastic for our patients and for the staff who work there.