CANCER services at Dorset County Hospital are set for another major boost after a charitable trust pledged a whopping £250,000.

The hospital will receive a significant boost to its cancer services over the next two years following Fortuneswell Cancer Trust's generous donation.

While charities have struggled to raise funds in the pandemic, the trust has been able to make the huge donation and said its income has 'held up well'.

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The trust have said that the money pledged will be split into a number of areas, with £130,000 earmarked to fund a nurse to operate a chemotherapy at home service.

It is hoped that this will enable suitable patients to receive their treatment at, or closer to their homes - helping patients who are very unwell avoid travel. The trust said that it hopes to fund the service indefinitely, but that this will depend on the level of income that it can raise in the future.

A further £70,000 has been allocated by the trust to pay for an Endo-bronchial Ultrasound Machine. This equipment will enable the investigation of lung cancer patients to be taken further locally, so that times to treatment when onward referral is needed will be reduced.

Fortuneswell Cancer Trust has also agreed to pay £50,000 towards a new pharmacy in the soon to be refurbished Chemotherapy Department at the hospital, the costs of which were raised in a joint appeal by the trust and the DCH Charity.

The trust said that the pandemic made life hard for fundraisers, but that regular donations have continued and it has benefitted from some generous legacies.

Dr David Evans, chairman of the trust said: "We are immensely grateful to all the local people who have made it possible for these further donations to help to improve cancer services at Dorset County Hospital, whether by regular donations, fundraising, or remembering us in their wills.

"In spite of the pandemic, our income has held up well and we work hard to ensure that the money is used where it will help most."

The trust is run by a committee of dedicated volunteers with no paid staff so that all the money it raises can go directly to improving services to cancer patients.

Fortuneswell Cancer Trust were one of the major funders for Dorset County Hospital’s cancer centre. It donated £358,000 towards the Robert White Centre, which houses a £1.75 million Cancer Outpatient department and was opened by Martin Clunes in 2018.