In this episode of CyberKnife: Beyond Cancer, Mike Hammond, the Chief Executive of University Hospitals Birmingham charity; discusses the crucial role of fundraising in supporting the mission of the Charity to provide excellent patient care. He highlights the importance of introducing advanced cancer treatment machines, such as CyberKnife and Tomotherapy, in UK hospitals, and the challenges of securing NHS funding.

CyberKnife has advantages over traditional radiotherapy, including its superior accuracy and ability to target tumours more precisely. Mike shares how CyberKnife benefits patients by reducing side effects, and their plans to continue trials to demonstrate CyberKnife's effectiveness to make it a standard NHS treatment for more types of cancer treatment.

Guest

Mike Hammond, Charity Chief Executive

Mike joined the hospital charity in February 2009, following 12 years at Bradford & Bingley, where he was Head of Internal Communications & Corporate Social Responsibility.

Since 2009, Mike has led a successful relaunch and rebrand of the hospital charity which now works across four of the Midland’s busiest hospitals - Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, Heartlands Hospital, Good Hope Hospital and Solihull Hospital.

Under Mike’s leadership the Charity has spent over £60 million supporting patients, families and staff at the hospitals. Mike has driven many multi-million-pound appeals at the Charity including bringing the first CyberKnife cancer treatment machine in the UK outside of London to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham.

Key Takeaways

The charity work is really making a difference by supporting patients, families and staff in ways that go above and beyond standard NHS care. Partnering with other organisations, such as the Stan Bowley Trust, means achieving more and helping more people.

CyberKnife is a game-changer for cancer treatment - it can precisely target tumours in tricky spots with fewer side effects than traditional radiotherapy. It uses precise radiotherapy that can target tumours in ways traditional methods cannot by tracking patient movement.

Fisher House - the military hospital facility provides an important home-away-from-home for families of injured service members undergoing long-term treatment. Having that support makes a big difference in their recovery.

Best Moments

"I remember Geoff and I being here on a Saturday morning, and just standing outside the radiotherapy department waiting for this big articulated truck with a with a crane on and a big, big box on the back… ‘that’s our CyberKnife machine!’…we were really excited.”

“And he said I can't do it. I can't have that treatment. I can't go through having those bolts put into my head again, I just will just have to give up. And then actually, the doctor say’s say, ‘oh, no, no, we've got a CyberKnife machine now, we, we don't need to bolt your head in, you can just lie there and wait.”

“We're the second largest radiotherapy department in the country, behind London's and London's isn't where you would expect it to be. It's not Great Ormond Street Hospital because they don't have a radiotherapy department. It's at one of the London teaching hospitals.”

The Stan Bowley Trust

The aim of the Stan Bowley Trust is to raise money for CyberKnife, increase awareness of CyberKnife treatments and provide information for patients and their families.

If you'd like to find out more about CyberKnife radiotherapy treatment, the Stan Bowley trust and the work we do then visit our website, thestanbowleytrust.org

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