Hospital trust thanks cancer detection charity for 60 years of support in Doncaster on World Cancer Day

The DCDT is a registered charity which raises funds to assist with the detection, prevention and treatment of all kinds of cancers and associated diseases and impairments.

They have been fundraising for Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals since the early 1970s – assisting the Trust with the purchase of numerous pieces of life-saving equipment which has helped them to stay ahead of the curve for cancer care and diagnostics.

The first donation from DCDT in the 1970s was for £3,000 (a significant amount back then) and enabled the hospital to buy a bronchoscope. A diagnostic tool, the bronchoscope was used to look inside patients’ lungs and take biopsies for further analysis.

Over the next five decades, DCDT would go on to raise an incredible £10million which funded around 80 pieces of equipment, including a fibroscanner (liver scanner) earlier this year.

Last year, the local charity raised funds to purchase two specialist pieces of equipment used during mastectomy (removal of breast tissue) operations. These pieces of equipment allow even more patients to be seen, and support healthcare professionals to spend more time improving patient experience.

A year earlier, in 2022, DBTH were able to open a new CT scanning suite at Doncaster Royal Infirmary, with fundraising from DCDT enabling the purchase of a brand-new scanner. This suite came at the perfect time with the Covid-19 pandemic heavily impacting waiting lists for diagnostic services and the new suite affording us additional scanning capacity of around 50%. The scanner cost around £500k and was raised by DCDT through their local connections and the generosity of Doncaster residents.

The scanner which was donated in 2022 was the second such machine that the DCDT had funded at DRI. The first state-of-the-art machine was purchased for £600k and was installed in 2012. At the time, this was the first CT scanner of its kind to be fully operation in a hospital outside of London.

In 2021, DCDT were able to raise £142k to complete the purchase of a specialist ultrasound machine which improved care for our Urology patients. The BK3000 enabled the Urology team at the DRI to perform precision-point prostate biopsies in an outpatient setting under local anaesthetic, reducing the need for day-case surgery. This helped to free up theatre capacity for other procedures, reduced patient risks associated with general anaesthesia and allowed patients to get home and comfortable following a biopsy.

Richard Parker, Chief Executive at DBTH said: “We owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the Doncaster Cancer Detection Trust, who over the years, have helped to improve the outcomes for many of our patients through their donations. I want to extend our thanks to all of their amazing supporter who continue to raise funds for transformational pieces of hospital equipment which in many cases save lives.”