Barts Cancer Centre signs up to Service Pledge for Breast Cancer

Former BBC Woman’s Hour Editor Sally Feldman who was successfully treated for breast cancer at Barts Cancer Centre has thanked its “spectacularly good” staff for saving her life.

Sally praised her treatment on the day Barts signed up to a breast cancer Service Pledge, formally agreeing to ensure every patient receives gold standard care based on an explicit, written set of promises.

The pledge scheme is part of a pioneering project run jointly with the Breakthrough Breast Cancer charity.

The promises that make up the Barts Service Pledge booklet are based on specific feedback from breast cancer patients about their diagnosis and care, with the focus on treating each patient with care, dignity and professionalism.

Former BBC Woman’s Hour Editor Sally Feldman

Clerkenwell-resident, Sally, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in August, last year, had a mastectomy followed by weeks of radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

She said: “A lot of things in the Service Pledge were happening at Barts already when I had my treatment last year, but it is wonderful that these are now in the form of written promises to reassure women who have just been diagnosed.

“It is thanks to the breast cancer unit that I am here at all. The staff are spectacularly good. Not only did they save my life, but they did so cheerfully, professionally and with kindness throughout. I was so lucky to be treated in a specialist centre like Barts.”

Under one of its key pledges - Communication and Consultation - Barts promises to introduce every patient personally to the staff members who will be involved in their care throughout; encourage patients to bring a relative or friend to their consultations; allow them the time to make notes during their consultation and to make sure, whenever possible, that a diagnosis is given in person with a breast care nurse present.

Breakthrough Breast Cancer Chief Executive, Chris Askew said: “The Barts service pledge has real integrity and insight at the heart of it.

“It’s absolutely clear that patients do far better when they are fully involved and consulted about their treatment – that is the absolute ethos of this pledge.”

Clinical Nurse Specialist, Jacky Jones, who helped draw up the Barts Service Pledge, said: “What the Service Pledge does is set out in a really clear way, in black and white, what will happen to new patients when they come to the clinic and what they have the right to expect in terms of their care and treatment.

“Hopefully, it will also answer a lot of the questions they may have, as well as encouraging them to ask other questions at any stage and also get written information if they need it.

“It’s not a frightening booklet – rather it aims to give patients reassurance about the standards of care they can expect to receive.”

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Notes to editors:

The Barts Service Pledge

The Service Pledge project is an innovative and pioneering project based on setting standards of care and implementing service improvement through patient involvement. Breakthrough Breast Cancer works closely with individual hospitals to develop their own ‘Service Pledge for Breast Cancer’.
This booklet is given to all patients diagnosed and sets out the standards of care they can expect to receive throughout their treatment and the goals that the hospital has set for improving their service. The template was developed in consultation with healthcare professionals, patients and policy experts.
St Bartholomew’s Hospital is the fourth of the fourth round of pledge sites to launch their Service Pledge. They were one of 25 hospitals to sign up to the Pledge in 2010.
Clinical Nurse Specialist Jacky Jones has led the project at the hospital.
A questionnaire was handed out to patients and interviews conducted to gain information on how St Bartholomew’s Hospital can improve their breast service. The questionnaire was given to 143 patients treated in 6-12months previously.

Barts Cancer Centre

The nine-storey extension of Britain’s oldest hospital boasts some of the most up-to-date diagnostic and treatment facilities anywhere in the world – all in a stunning environment.
As well as offering the latest minimally invasive surgical procedures, cancer drugs, stem cell and gene therapies, Barts Cancer Centre has an impressive array of state-of-the art imaging, radiotherapy and radio-surgery technology.
It includes five RapidArc linear accelerators only available in a select number of hospitals in the UK. These machines, made by Varian, are capable of delivering radiotherapy eight times faster and with pinpoint precision to more tumour sites than ever before.
They are also able to wrap the radiotherapy dose around the exact shape of the tumour, minimising damage to surrounding tissue.
Barts Cancer Centre is the first hospital in London to meet new NHS space, infection control and privacy standards, with 25% more space per patient.

Breakthrough Breast Cancer

For more information visit: www.breakthrough.org.uk