Hospital staff thank Bob Potter
5 June 2008 - Entrepreneur Bob Potter visited Frimley Park Hospital to see how his recent donation is giving local breast cancer patients access to the latest technology.
It was a chance for cancer specialists and hospital bosses to show their appreciation to Mr Potter for funding a high-tech Faxitron Unit – a digital specimen radiography system which allows surgeons to instantly analyse tumour tissue without leaving the operating theatre.
The unit was bought after Mr Potter donated £52,000 raised at the 35th anniversary ball of his Lakeside Country Club at Frimley Green last November.
Consultant radiologist Dr Fiona Hearn showed Mr Potter how the unit works. She said: “Our surgeons urgently require the ability to digitally x-ray tumour specimens in the operating theatre. Currently specimens have to be sent down to the radiology department for analysis on our mammography machine. If the machine is in use, there is a delay in the checking process which means the operation cannot continue and means the patient spends more time in theatre than necessary.
"The Faxitron Unit means specimens can be checked immediately in the operating theatre which will be of great benefit to our women patients who won’t spend so much time in theatre. It also means surgeons will be able to treat more patients because the time which is saved by this process means more operations can be conducted."
Consultant cancer specialist Ian Laidlaw said: "This is the very latest new technology and through the development of the breast unit at Frimley Park we have been lucky to have been at the forefront of installation of digital mammography and digital examination. This installation we have here today is the latest digital suite of diagnostic tools and there are very few hospitals across the country, let alone the south east, that can offer this service."
Mr Laidlaw said the mobile unit can deliver results on breast tumours within minutes. "This process can take less than a couple of minutes to produce a satisfactory result where in the past it could have taken 30-40 minutes. It allows us to continue with the treatment in a speedy and safe way for the patients, ensuring they have better cancer care along the way."
Mr Laidlaw said the hospital was immensely grateful to Mr Potter who has supported Frimley Park since it opened more than 30 years ago. He said his donations had helped the hospital keep at the forefront technological advances.
Dr Hearn added: "Bob Potter's support has been invaluable to ensuring women suffering from breast cancer locally have the very best treatment available."
More than £16,000 was raised in a raffle at Lakeside’s anniversary ball last year. Mr Potter topped it up with a personal donation to ensure the hospital reached its £52,000 target. It was the latest in a series of donations he has made to Frimley Park since the hospital opened in 1974.
In 2000 he donated £150,000 to Frimley Park to fund a state-of-the-art breast screening unit in the hospital's radiology department in memory of his former partner Shirley Sharman who died of breast cancer. Thanks to Lakeside a number of departments at the hospital have been able to purchase vital new equipment.
Mr Potter said: "The doctors and nurses at Frimley Park do a fantastic job. Lakeside has been a supporter of the hospital since the day it opened and we will continue to help them whenever we can. They provide a vital service for the whole community. We have support many national and local charities but Frimley Park has always been at the centre of our efforts. As a founder member of the Breast Cancer Research Trust, cancer treatment is also an area I’m particularly keen to support and it is important Frimley Park can have access to the best equipment available."
Enquiries:
James Taylor, Media and Communications Manager, 01276 604313 james.taylor@fph-tr.nhs.uk
Mary Dewdney, Communications and Marketing Manager, 01276 526164 mary.dewdney@fph-tr.nhs.uk
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