Ernie celebrates Christmas with award-winning cancer unit
“I’m still here,” says 73-year-old Ernie. “And that’s the best Christmas present I could ask for.”
Ernie Thornhill, from Eastwood, was diagnosed with cancer of the oesophagus earlier this year and had three operations in three days. He was placed in an induced coma in critical care for three weeks.
“Now look at me,” he said, as he joined other patients at Nottingham City Hospital’s award-winning Prehabilitation Unit’s Christmas party just three months after leaving hospital. “With everything I have been through, I don’t think I could have managed without the team here – Lauren (Prehab exercise professional) even came to visit me on the ward after my ops.”
The unit – set up in April 2022 with input from patient partners – helps people diagnosed with cancer to prepare for surgery in a holistic way – looking at diet, exercise, and the psychologic impact of the diagnosis to create a personalised prehab programme. Research has shown that this can reduce the length of stay in hospital, limit post-op complications, and support recovery.
Joanne Shilton, from Hucknall, has taken part in prehab and rehab at the unit after surgery for ovarian cancer.
“These guys are amazing,” she said. “They’ve given me back a lot of confidence. I can’t thank them enough.”
Christmas 2023 has been very different to last year: Joanne was in isolation after her op due to Covid-19, looking at photos of Christmas celebrations sent in by her sister. This year, she is in those photos.
“That Tom Petty song – I Won’t Back Down – that’s me, that’s how I am going to be.”
June Ashton was using the exercise bikes, treadmills, and free weights ahead of surgery for bowel cancer this week, and is spending Christmas in hospital.
“The staff here are brilliant – I’ve enjoyed coming. I’d like to come back after my op for the rehab too.”
After surgery, the support continues thanks to the Cancer and Rehabilitation Exercise (CARE) programme run by Notts County Football Club, with support from Macmillan Cancer. It not only helps patients with physical exercise, it offers a supportive environment where people can share their stories, improve their confidence, and feel less alone.
Abi Burrows, Pre-op, Prehab and NCSEM Matron, said: “The benefits to the patients is to make them physically fitter. From a cardio respiratory aspect, this has a massive impact on the safety during surgery, reduces the time in hospital, reduces post-operative complications, and means we can see much-improved quality of life much quicker.
“From a long-term point of view, we like to focus on improving patients’ and families’ behaviour and attitudes towards physical activity, to try to optimise population health.
“We also encourage patients to socialise and share their stories, and that can provide a real positive outlook and a support network for the patients and their families.”
The programme won a Partnership Working to Improve the Experience and Personalisation of Care Award in this year’s prestigious Patient Experience Network National Awards (PENNA). It now has around 60 new referrals a month and they stay for around five weeks but some stay for much longer.
The service was co-designed with Patient Partners Lizzie Paddock and Robin Ford, who still input into developments and recruitment of new staff. Lizzie was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2017, at the age of 26; and Robin was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2016.
“I was told it was terminal,” says Robin. “I had a day and a half of surgery and two different lots of chemo, and now I’m in remission.”
Lizzie found that exercise helped – and her oncologist Lucy agreed with her. So much so, that the two joined forces to set up a Nottingham Parkrun group, bringing together clinicians, nurses, patients, and families to run, walk, or jog 5k every Saturday morning.
Robin also takes part in Parkrun, running alongside his consultant Dr Pulam Patel. “It gives us something to chat about when we meet – it’s been invaluable over the past three years or so.”
Staff in the unit work with community exercise provider, ABL (A Better Life), and Self Help UK, to help patients access support in their communities, reducing travel time and expense. They also developed a dedicated direct referral pathway to speed up access to psychological support; involved Social Prescriber link-workers; and created a transitional care pathway to create a seamless transition from prehab to rehab.
The team also worked with digital colleagues to create a bespoke electronic information-sharing process to tackle patients’ frustrations at having to repeat their story to different healthcare professionals.
“They say if exercise was a pill, we should give it to everyone – and that’s true,” says Lizzie. “The impact the Prehabilitation Unit has had is immense.
“I’d say to anyone – take the plunge and go for it. You won’t look back. It’s life-changing and it is something you can do for yourself, to take back a bit of control at a time when you feel like you have none.”