Text to Speach Symbol
RSS Logo
University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust logo

UHBW NHS

Weston General Hospital receives award for excellence in myeloma healthcare

Last updated: 12/05/2023

Myeloma award presentation with Myeloma UK and Patient Sarah O\'Fee

Weston General Hospital Haematology team has been awarded the Myeloma UK Clinical Service Excellence Programme (CSEP) Award in recognition of its outstanding care and dedication to patients with myeloma.

Myeloma is an incurable blood cancer which claims the lives of 3,000 people in the UK each year.

Staff were praised for their efforts to improve patients’ quality of life and eagerness to adapt and truly listen to their needs. The accolade, awarded by charity Myeloma UK, recognises hospitals’ commitment to raising the bar for treatment and providing compassionate care.

Anna Murawska, Haematology Clinical Nurse Specialist at Weston General Hospital, said: “We're delighted to have achieved the Clinical Service Excellence Programme Award. As a team we proactively listen to patient feedback and experience, to continuously improve and ensure we provide top-quality care. We also work closely with a very diverse team of dedicated professionals from various specialities and backgrounds to ensure the best outcomes for our patients. We feel that this award reflects the excellent standard of care we provide, and we plan to continue to work hard to uphold this standard of care.”

Monica Morris, Clinical Practice Services Senior Projects Officer at Myeloma UK, said: “Myeloma is a complex cancer which can be challenging to cope with so we were extremely impressed by the team’s efforts to understand patients’ needs and ease their burden as much as possible.

“Staff know the emotional toll an incurable diagnosis can take, and they go above and beyond to make sure patients have the support and resources they need, from access to a clinical psychologist and support worker to counselling sessions. Patients are also offered anxiety and stress management packs with useful information and techniques.

“To be able to present this award to the team on our charity’s 25th anniversary has made this occasion even more special and truly shows how far we’ve come in the treatment of myeloma over the past two decades.”

Sarah O’Fee, from West Wick, had two broken ribs by the time her cancer was caught in February 2010. It was incurable.

She was just 48 years old when she was diagnosed.

She credits the team at the hospital for supporting her through the most difficult time of her life, constantly pushing to find new treatments for her and giving her hope.

“They’ve been there every step of the way for me,” she said. “They’re a wonderful team. I can’t speak too highly of them. I’ve been there for so long, I’m part of the furniture now. When I phone sometimes now I don’t even have to say my name, they just know it’s me.

“When I was diagnosed my doctor said, ‘Whatever is available to us, we will do it for you and that’s how it’s been since.

“It’s your life that you’ve put in their hands and they’re honest and truthful. They don’t sugar-coat it because I don’t want that, I want the truth. I trust them implicitly. At Weston you get honest conversations and that’s worth its weight in gold.”

Fellow patient Alan Keedwell, from Congresbury, had only just recovered from sepsis, after nearly losing his life to the condition, when a follow-up test revealed he had myeloma back in November 2022.

Alan is currently receiving chemotherapy and responding well to treatment.

Alan said, “I can’t say enough about Weston Hospital. The way they look after me now and the way they looked after when I had sepsis and I literally couldn’t move. I can’t fault them. I don’t know what else they could have done for me.”

Knowing doctors and nurses are just a phone call away has helped lighten the load, he said.

“I’ve had phone calls from the consultant herself to ask how I am. And when I was getting an endoscopy, she came to the waiting room because she knew how worried I was about it. I found that incredible. The nurses couldn’t be friendlier or do anything more. Everyone knows me by name, we joke. They’re marvellous.”

The Bristol Haematology and Oncology Centre (BHOC) received the same Clinical Service Excellence Programme (CSEP) Accreditation from the charity Myeloma UK in 2019.