The room was formally unveiled on Wednesday 14th May with Diana Moran, a famous personality known as ‘the green goddess’ and a breast  cancer patient,  as one of the honoured guests.   The £5,000 refurbishment of the room has involved putting in sliding doors to conceal the extensive storage area for prosthesis and patient information, new floor, new furniture, adjustable lighting and redecoration throughout.

With the approval of the CEO of Ashford & St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Trust, TACT submitted a business plan to the Friends of St Peter’s Hospital for funding the refurbishment of the room, which was successful. In the last year the Friends of St. Peter’s Hospital have provided over £50,000 for projects to benefit patients, staff and visitors at St. Peter’s.  Chairman of the Friends, Jim McCall, comments: “Whilst at £3,000 the amount of money we have contributed might seem relatively small we were really pleased to be involved with this project.  Helping patients is one of the key reasons the Friends of St. Peter’s exist and this will clearly have many benefits for patients.”

Anne Chieruzzi, ex breast cancer patient and Chair of the project group, said: “At TACT we know that the right environment can help those who have been diagnosed with breast cancer to come to terms with the news.   We have listened to the views of patients during the quiet room project and taken on board their recommendations.”  TACT is part of the SWSH Network Cancer Service Partnership Group and on its behalf liaises with the healthcare professionals at St Peters Hospital in Chertseyand Ashford Hospital on current issues in cancer services and to work on local projects within the hospitals.  For more information on the TACT group visit their web site at www.tactusergroup.org.uk.

The SWSH Cancer Network, which is hosted by Surrey Primary Care Trust, covers a population of 1•2 million and aims to ensure that all patients served by the Network are receiving a uniformly high quality of service.    Angela Olszak, Cancer Services Partnership Facilitator said:  “Partnership working has resulted in a true transformation of the room, which has already been acknowledged by the breast care patients.  We must also remember that it has provided a nicer work environment for the team of nurses who dedicate their time to support and care for the breast care patients at St. Peter’s Hospital.   We are grateful to TACT for helping to develop this facility and the Friends of St. Peter’s for their support.”

The SWSH Cancer Services Partnership Group wants to understand the needs of cancer patients and their carers from all communities across the Network so that their views are incorporated in the development of network cancer services.   Anyone interested in being involved in partnership working within the SWSH Cancer Network and would like further information is invited to contact Angela Olszak, Cancer services Partnership Facilitator on  01483 783209 or by e-mail to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . 

Acting Chief Executive at Ashford and St. Peter’s Hospitals NHS Trust, Paul Bentley, said: “We are grateful to TACT and the Friends of St. Peter’s for working on the development of this refurbished facility.   Taking account of the views of patients along the way has resulted in a room which is calming and soothing for use at times which can be very stressful for patients, their relatives and carers.”

In 2007/08 Ashford and St. Peter’s received 647 referrals from GPs for suspected breast cancer which were dealt within two weeks.  Approximately 95 referrals were picked up via other routes, for example Accident & Emergency, incidental findings in outpatients, etc. making a total of 742 referrals.  A total of 174 patients with a positive diagnosis of breast cancer received their treatment at Ashford and St. Peter’s.     The Trust, which serves a population of 400,000 who live in the boroughs of Elmbridge, Hounslow, Runnymede, Spelthorne, Surrey Heath, Woking and further afield, provides care and treatment for around 80% of all patients diagnosed with cancer at the hospitals .  Only about 20 per cent of cancer cases requiring more specialist treatment are referred to more specialist hospitals like the cancer centres at Guildford, Sutton and in London.

Further information about breast cancer, which affects both women and men, can be found at:

·          NHS Choices website - www.nhs.uk/conditions/cancer-of-the-breast,-female

·          SWSH Cancer Network Web site – www.swshcn.nhs.uk

·          NHS Direct – cancer of the female breast - www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/articles/article.aspx?articleId=76

·          NHS Direct – cancer of the male breast - www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/articles/article.aspx?articleId=623