University Hospitals Dorset NHS Charity receives £11,881 grant from the Haskins Charitable Fund to plant a new mounted wall of LED landscape panels in the Oncology department.

Awards for the Haskins Charitable Fund are made by staff through personal nominations. One of the team at Haskins in Ferndown is currently undergoing cancer treatment and has requested that this generous grant is made to completely fund the whole installation of these new wall panels to give patients receiving radiotherapy something visual and calming to look at during their sessions.

Patients are often sat or laid down in the same position for some considerable time and currently have nothing to look at other than bare walls and ceiling tiles.

The LED illuminated landscapes will be mounted on the wall and used as a distraction to help improve the patient experience and relax the patient by making the environment a less clinical space.

Haskins General Manager, Marc Etheridge said; “The Haskins Charitable Fund was established to support the local communities where our garden centres are located. It is a pleasure to be able to support the staff at University Hospitals Dorset NHS Charity and the valuable work that they do, making a difference to thousands of people each week.

“This is such a personal donation made from our fund to help our wonderful team member. We hope the installation of the LED landscape wall panels from Aspire Inside will provide all those undergoing treatment at Poole Hospital’s Oncology department with some comfort, during what is a really challenging time.”

Head of Therapy Radiotherapy at University Hospitals Dorset, David Frost, said; “This grant is amazing and will make such a difference to the patients we treat. Over 2,545 patients attend the Oncology department for radiotherapy treatment each year and the investment in making the experience for them more comfortable is grounded in the Trust’s desire to treat people with dignity and kindness. We know that improvements to our facilities and surroundings like this really matter to people visiting our hospitals.”

Patients and staff voted for the landscape design of Durdle Door.