Oncology services at Holly House

We are delighted to announce that we are expanding our oncology services at Holly House Hospital.

The oncology service we currently provide includes outpatient consultant clinics, diagnostic radiology, central venous access device insertion, bone marrow biopsy, chemotherapy day care and supportive care.  Consultant clinics are held in the outpatient department and chemotherapy treatments given in patient bedrooms by experienced chemotherapy nurses.  Any patients who suffer side effects or complications that require hospitalisation are cared for on the ward under the supervision of our Nurse Specialists.

Nurse Specialists

We have two specialist nurses with extensive experience in a wide range of malignancies.  They are working together to develop the oncology service and promote and provide high clinical standards and an excellent service to oncology patients at Holly House.

Joanne Hill is our Breast Care Clinical Nurse Specialist, with specialist qualifications in oncology, breast cancer care and lymphodema management, she has 13 years oncology experience including clinical research.  Joanne set up the breast care service at Holly House five years ago, gaining BUPA accreditation as an approved breast cancer centre.  She provides expert care to women with breast cancer and those at risk of developing the disease.

Louise Goodey is our Oncology Nurse Specialist.  She has 15 years experience in haematology oncology, with the last six years including experience with solid tumours at Parkside Hospital.  At Parkside she worked in the chemotherapy day unit and on the inpatient ward as Haematology CNS for Prof Ray Powles.  Louise will be providing specialised nursing care to patients receiving chemotherapy as well as caring for oncology inpatients at Holly House.

Our Nurse Specialists provide 24-hour phone advice and support for patients and ward staff, with out-of-hours cover to the ward for emergency admissions.  They also both have strong links with our surrounding NHS trusts.

Support services

Our Diagnostic Centre offers MRI, CT, fluoroscopy, ultrasound, x-ray including a mobile unit, image intensifier, bone density scanner and we have recently invested in MicroDose digital mammography as well as a Gamma probe.  We are currently exploring the possibility of acquiring a PET scanner and nuclear medicine onsite but in the meantime refer patients to the PET/CT Centre at Barts and The London NHS Hospital.  We provide daily reporting with a turn around time of 48 hours and fast track reporting of urgent cases.  Additionally, an on-call radiologist and remote reporting is available for urgent cases on a 24-hour a day basis.

Finally, we have an onsite pathology laboratory, with experienced staff providing an efficient onsite service that contributes towards diagnosis, management and helping to ensure the safe delivery of chemotherapy.

The future

We are already beginning to expand our oncology service but expect to have a new purpose-built oncology centre by 2012, as part of the hospital’s development and expansion plans.  This state-of-the-art facility will offer cancer patients a comprehensive service including onsite radiotherapy planning and treatment, chemotherapy day-care in a comfortable and relaxed environment plus access to our well-equipped Diagnostic Centre and supportive inpatient services.  The new unit will include:

• A linear accelerator for onsite radiotherapy
• CT scanner solely for radiotherapy planning
• Consulting rooms
• Asceptic pharmacy
• A chemotherapy day unit with dedicated treatment chairs
• Patient information area
• Complementary holistic therapies.