This campaign has now closed

Help us to raise much needed funds to establish the UK's first Brain Tumour Unit.

100%
Categories

  • Cancer Cancer
  • Health/Wellbeing Health/​Wellbeing
  • Hospitals/Hospices Hospitals/​Hospices
  • Medical Research Medical Research
  • Beneficiaries

    • Older People Older People
    • Women & Girls Women & Girls
    • Young People (18-30) Young People (18-30)
    • Other Other

    Situation

    The Brain Tumour Unit Appeal - Transforming Brain Cancer Care. The need for a Brain Tumour Unit is pressing. The first brain tumour operation took place 125 years ago and sadly, until recently and unlike most other cancers, the prognosis for brain tumours has changed very little. Survival rates remain extremely low. The creation of this unit will transform brain cancer care and will provide support and treatment at every stage of the condition, from assessment through to wellness or end of life. The project began in 2008 and to date over £1.8 million has been raised leaving just over £600,000 to be secured. We’ve used the money to get both the Clinical Database and the Brain Tissue Bank up and running. Almost all the medical staff are in place and a substantial amount of the equipment has been purchased – but we can’t stop here... We Need Your Help All that remains to be done is the refurbishment and final equipping of the 12-bed ward itself. We also need to provide initial funding for a dedicated palliative care specialist and nurse, to help with end of life care. Building work will begin this spring and the Unit will open its doors to patients before the end of 2010. What practical results will the project produce? • Quicker diagnosis and care. A resident multidisciplinary medical team and a dedicated ward will enable us to achieve earlier diagnosis and treatment, which can delay symptoms, enhance the length and quality of life and improve survival rates. A crucial part of this is getting people into surgery more quickly and offering specialist observation and care before and after operations to aid recovery • Better and more consistent care. We’re creating a detailed Clinical Database of the treatment every brain tumour patient receives and the outcome. Using this information we’ll be able to compare different patterns of treatment, identify best practice and roll this out to other hospitals and clinics all over the UK • Improved therapies. The creation of a dedicated unit will enable important clinical trials to take place to help develop new therapies. To support this research we have also developed a unique Brain Tissue Bank, which researchers can access both nationally and internationally • The search for a cure. Findings made at the Unit will also feed back into other research aimed at finding a cure • More help for children and teenagers. We’ll also be carrying out more focused clinical trials for children and adolescents, whose young, growing brains bring unique challenges.

    Solution

    100%
    Categories

  • Cancer Cancer
  • Health/Wellbeing Health/​Wellbeing
  • Hospitals/Hospices Hospitals/​Hospices
  • Medical Research Medical Research
  • Beneficiaries

    • Older People Older People
    • Women & Girls Women & Girls
    • Young People (18-30) Young People (18-30)
    • Other Other