31 January 2024

A Queen Alexandra Hospital (QA) support service is celebrating an impressive increase of more than double the number of patients and their loved ones it now works with, just a year since it reopened.

Staff and volunteers worked with 7,755 people in 2023 at QA’s Cancer Information and Support Centre, which is supported by Portsmouth Hospitals Charity and Macmillan. Its popularity is also highlighted by its dishwasher being used by staff three times per day in response to the increase in people requesting hot drinks.

The centre, which reopened with a brand-new look in February last year - funded by a generous legacy left to Portsmouth Hospitals Charity - saw more than 4,000 additional people benefit from its services, which range from physical wellbeing workshops to free counselling and hypnotherapy, compared to 2022. In addition, the Cancer Information and Support Centre also saw an increase in donations to the centre.

Achievements for the centre and its staff and volunteers include:

  • 99 hours of free hypnotherapy given to patients struggling with sleep, phobias, anxiety and low self-esteem
  • 444 patients due to start IV chemotherapy attending Demystifying Chemotherapy workshops
  • 1,428 people supported by the centre’s financial and employment advice staff

Emma Brown, Cancer Information and Support Centre Manager, said: “We’ve had lovely feedback from visitors coming through our doors, especially those who used our services before the centre’s reopening, as they can see the changes which have occurred within the last year.

“As staff, we have also definitely felt a shift in the overall mood throughout the centre, as it also feels like a lighter and friendlier place thanks to its refurbishment.

“We are also really proud that thanks to these additional donations and support, we’re now also able to help Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust staff and those close to them who have been affected by cancer themselves.”

If you would like to make a donation to the centre, visit our website and select the Cancer Information and Support Fund.

You can also find out more about the Cancer Information and Support Centre at Queen Alexandra Hospital, here.