Charities donate ultrasound scanner to RD&E Vascular Access team

Two Devon based charities have donated a new ultrasound scanner to the Vascular Access team at the Royal Devon and Exeter hospital to help them care for patients with cancer.

FORCE Cancer Charity and the Exeter Leukaemia Fund (ELF) jointly donated the machine to give the team more flexibility when preparing patients to receive chemotherapy treatment on the hospital’s oncology and haematology wards.

The ultrasound scanner is used by a specialist nurse to find a suitable vein to insert a long thin tube or line to administer chemotherapy drugs through.  The new machine will provide a dedicated service for oncology and haematology and will enable the Vascular Access team to see patients more quickly when on Cherrybrook and Yarty.

Vicky Shawyer, Senior Vascular Access Nurse Specialist, said: “We are becoming increasingly busy on these two wards so this new machine is a welcome addition to the other scanner that is already available on Cherrybrook. We’d like to thank FORCE and ELF for donating this machine as it will give us more flexibility when out on the wards and will help us to better meet the needs of our patients.” 

To find out more about the work of FORCE Cancer Charity visit www.forcecancercharity.co.uk or the Exeter Leukaemia Fund (ELF) at www.elfcharity.org.uk