EMS Healthcare partners with Clatterbridge to deliver care closer to the community

The pioneering ‘Clatterbridge in the Community’ service aims to improve care for patients by making the cancer treatment process as accessible and easy as possible. The mobile unit offers specialist treatment away from a hospital setting and will enable patients from Chester and the surrounding area to have access to the care they require in a more convenient location. The unit will treat approximately 25 people each day, meaning there will be a significant increase in patients accessing treatment closer to home.

The bespoke unit has been specially designed by EMS Healthcare to meet The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre’s requirements, housing six chemotherapy stations with preparation, reception and waiting areas. 

Chester is the first city in the Merseyside and Cheshire regions to pilot the new scheme. The Tesco Sealand Road site will be the home of the chemotherapy unit for six months, providing convenient, free parking facilities. If successful, the service will roll out to other locations across the region, making cancer treatment as accessible and easy as possible for a wider range of patients.

Keith Austin, CEO at EMS Healthcare said: “We have used our design expertise and unique healthcare insight to deliver a solution that meets all of the requirements. Our senior project team managed the process with multiple suppliers so that The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre only had to deal with one point of contact, making it a much smoother process.

“Many patients have to make long journeys to receive specialist treatment. This unique facility will help reduce the burden and strain that travelling can bring while delivering first class patient care close to people’s homes.”

Kim Barrow, Head of Daycase and Chemotherapy Outpatient Services at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre said: “We were among the first centres in the UK to use multiple drug chemotherapy to treat cancers and chemotherapy is one of the fastest-growing areas of our expertise. We’re constantly working on innovative methods to make the treatment process easier for our patients and the mobile chemotherapy unit is a huge step in the right direction.

“EMS Healthcare has been incredibly accommodating since this project started. The support they have given, and their quick responses are a demonstration of excellent customer relations and team working, which is in turn helping us to deliver high quality care close to patients' homes. Patients are getting a real sense of community and ownership while attending the clinic and we’ve had lots of positive feedback about the concept and high quality of the unit.” 

The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre is one of the largest networked cancer centres in the UK. From nine operating sites across Merseyside and Cheshire it treats over 27,000 patients a year, offering chemotherapy, radiotherapy and proton therapy.

The new mobile facility forms part of the Clatterbridge in the Community programme, which offers specialist chemotherapy treatment away from a hospital setting. This enables some patients to have access to the care they require in a more convenient location; from a networked clinic to, in some cases, their own home.

EMS Healthcare’s work with The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre follows a successful campaign delivered on behalf of cancer charity, Tenovus, which treated 15 chemo patients per day in South Wales. This mobile unit was the first of its kind in the UK.

Key facts

• EMS Healthcare has designed and delivered a mobile chemotherapy facility to help The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre treat patents closer to their homes, reducing waiting and travel times
• The bespoke state-of-the-art unit boasts six chemotherapy stations with preparation, reception and waiting areas
• The Tesco Sealand Road site in Chester will be the home of the mobile unit for six months. If successful, the service will roll out to other locations across the region
• This is the second cancer care project for EMS-Healthcare, which has also delivered a mobile unit to Tenovus for patients in South Wales