A TALENTED team of medical staff needs a state-of-the-art breast unit worthy of its skills, says a leading volunteer and former health boss.

Fiona Charny, chairman of the Worcestershire Breast Unit Campaign steering group, has appealed for help to raise £2.5 million for the unit at Worcestershire Royal Hospital in Worcester.

Mrs Charny said it was only fair the medical team should get the best facilities possible. She said: “We are very lucky to have such a fantastic team of surgeons – Steven Thrush, Rachel Bright-Thomas and Michelle Mullen.

“The specialist nurses deserve to be able to provide their services in the right surroundings.

“The facilities are shocking. A member of staff sometimes has to be on the telephone in the same room as a woman who is having a prosthesis fitted.”

The campaign is being supported by your Worcester News. Mrs Charny, aged 51, of St George’s Square, Barbourne, Worcester, is one of about 20 volunteers who have given their time to the fund-raising drive.

She works about 15 hours a week volunteering, on top of caring for her four children, her regular job helping with a family consultancy business and also sitting as a magistrate.

Mrs Charny said the new breast unit would be tailored to suit the needs of patients because the design had been based on their input.

She said: “Patients were included as part of the consultation process so we were able to find what patients liked and what they didn’t like.

“The whole idea has been shaped and influenced by patient experiences.”

Mrs Charny is a former nurse and former health visitor at what was then the Lowesmoor Surgery in Worcester.

She is also a former assistant chief executive of what used to be Worcester and District Health Authority.

She said she is very aware of some of the tough financial decisions that have to be made about healthcare.

She said: “A budget is finite. You can’t have your cake and eat it. After the launch, we are looking for people to pledge money in the form of a covenant which enables us to be tax efficient.”

Mrs Charny also extended her thanks to Coun Lucy Hodgson, who made the campaign her chosen charity during her time as mayor.

Sylvia Grantham, 49, of St John’s, Worcester, who works at the Worcester News reception, had breast reduction surgery two years ago at the existing breast unit at Worcestershire Royal Hospital.

She said: “After the surgery Steven Thrush, the surgeon, gave me a hug and a kiss and said, ‘You look absolutely fantastic’. The two nurses were like my friends. They are such a wonderful team.

“I cannot speak highly enough of them.”

Her mother-in-law was also successfully operated on at Worcestershire Royal Hospital after she developed breast cancer.

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Worcester News: Breast Unit Appeal