The Christie’s home bloods service shortlisted for national award

The service, which is funded by The Christie charity and run by Christie staff, operates from 10 convenient locations, including Oldham, across Greater Manchester and Cheshire.

The service is available at The Christie’s three local radiotherapy treatment centres in Oldham, Salford and Macclesfield, as well as health centres, district hospitals, and hospices.

Patients can book their own appointments online at a time that suits them, rather than relying on someone doing it for them.

The team has taken more than 6,000 samples since April 2022.

Patients on drug treatments need to have a blood test before treatment to check how their organs are functioning and protein levels, which can also act as markers to see how the patient is responding to treatment.

Rachel Rathbone, a senior nurse in the bloods closer to home team, said: “All in all, taking a blood sample takes less than a couple of minutes, but some patients had to do a two-hour roundtrip to get to our Withington site. When you have to get frequent samples taken, that can be draining.

“We’ve now drastically cut down travel time for many of our patients, which I know means a lot to them.

“At the beginning, the bloods closer to home service was only available for people who were having treatment at the Oak Road Treatment Centre at The Christie in Withington, but it’s been so successful that we’ve now made it available for lots of other Christie patients.

“As a result, the number of samples we’ve taken has doubled in just three months. I’m so glad to see it making such a difference to so many people.”

The Christie has been shortlisted in the Cancer Nursing category. The winners will be announced at a ceremony in London on Wednesday, October 26.

The local blood testing service is part of The Christie’s wider ‘closer to home’ treatment service.

This includes treatment in locations across Oldham, Greater Manchester, and Cheshire, as well as in patients’ homes.