Last Saturday, I was honoured to be invited by the family and friends of Bob Clifford to play in the Bob Clifford memorial cricket match at Charlton Kings Cricket Club to raise funds for Pancreatic Cancer UK.
Bob sadly died from Pancreatic cancer in 2021 and his family and friends continue to honour his memory by raising money for Pancreatic Cancer UK, a charity which funds research and campaigns to improve the lives of those living with pancreatic cancer.
I was thinking of Bob and families like his when I recently held talks with the Health Secretary to bang the drum for a Gloucestershire Cancer Institute in the heart of Cheltenham.
Readers of this column will know that I am backing a plan for a three-storey cancer institute at Cheltenham General Hospital, which would provide cutting-edge Systemic Anti-Cancer Therapy and new consulting rooms. It would also include a robotic cancer resection centre.
Cheltenham is already recognised for the excellence of its cancer care. Some of the best clinicians in the country are based here on our doorstep, and patients come from as far away as Clwyd in Wales to be treated.
They benefit from some of the most modern equipment and scanners anywhere in the world, as I know from visiting last year to see the brand-new radiotherapy machines, purchased with £6.5m of fresh government investment.
It’s essential that we are restless for improvement. That’s why I am so passionate about developing Cheltenham General Hospital further as a centre of excellence for cancer treatment.
So I sought this meeting with the Health Secretary to make the case that the Gloucestershire Cancer Institute would be a major step forward in the treatment of cancer. He received my pitch positively, and I will keep readers updated on the campaign.
With the multi-million pound wing near the Lido nearing completion, let us redouble our efforts to upgrade local health facilities so that fewer Cheltenham families experience the tragedy of cancer.
[Column published in the Cheltenham Post and Gloucestershire Echo]