Simplyhealth supports The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity with donation to help improve the lives of people affected by cancer
A donation from Simplyhealth, the UK’s leading health solutions company, has funded a senior physiotherapist at Brainwave, a charity with its headquarters in Somerset, which will enable more children with disabilities across the UK to gain greater independence.
The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity has received a generous donation of £33,750 from Simplyhealth, the UK’s leading health solutions company, to help fund a unique exercise intervention project which is providing specialist support for prostate cancer patients.
The donation from Simplyhealth will support the THRIVE project, an innovative Royal Marsden initiative in collaboration with The Exercise Clinic®, a company that works with clinicians to provide cancer patients with personalised exercise programmes.
The THRIVE project started in 2020 after staff at The Royal Marsden submitted the idea to The Innovation Den – a yearly Dragon’s Den-style initiative, funded by The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, which enables staff to implement novel ideas that will improve patient experiences.
Designed to address the unmet physical needs of prostate cancer patients, THRIVE is a multi-team, cross discipline project which goes above and beyond the standard of care for patients. The project offers a triage by a physiotherapist or doctor, a consultation with a clinical exercise specialist, group exercise sessions, a personalised care plan and access to The Exercise Clinic’s app and its exercise monitoring and support platform. To ensure patient safety during the Covid-19 pandemic, the project has been successfully delivered virtually to patients.
The idea of a prostate exercise clinic was proposed by Consultant Oncologists Dr Alison Reid and Dr Alison Tree, Clinical Specialist Physiotherapist Siobhan Cowan-Dickie, Head of Therapies Ione de Brito-Ashurst and the co-founders of The Exercise Clinic®, Emily Curtis, clinical exercise physiologist and Chris Cottrell, patient representative. There is growing evidence which supports the key role of exercise in cancer therapy and this project is aiming to ease the side effects of treatment for up to 300 prostate cancer patients and improve their quality of life with its personalised six stage exercise programme.
David Gullen, 64, has been receiving treatment at The Royal Marsden since he was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2020 and is currently enrolled on the THRIVE programme.
When you’re ill with cancer, everything is done for you with regards to treatment but to have something active and positive that you can take part in yourself to keep well and strong makes a huge difference. Being part of the THRIVE programme and being able to contribute to my own health has definitely improved my quality of life. Keeping active is helping to control the fatigue and combat the side effects of my hormone treatment; in some ways I think I’m stronger now than I have felt in years thanks to the support and encouragement of the THRIVE team.
David Gullen, prostate cancer patient enrolled on the Thrive Project
On behalf of the Charity I’d like to say a huge thank you to Simplyhealth for their generous donation. We’re delighted that they have decided to support us in funding this innovative project which we’re particularly proud of as the idea was created entirely by staff at The Royal Marsden. The support from Simplyhealth will make a real difference to the lives of people affected by cancer and will directly benefit hundreds of patients undergoing prostate cancer treatment at the hospital.
Antonia Dalmahoy, Managing Director of The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity
Simplyhealth exists to improve access to healthcare for people in the UK and our donation to The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity aligns with this purpose. We’re proud to be supporting the incredible work of the Prostate Cancer Exercise Clinic and our donation is recognition of the Royal Marsden’s holistic and innovative approach to healthcare which will help hundreds of prostate cancer patients better manage their everyday health, improve their quality of life and lead to better health outcomes.
Dr Sneh Khemka, Chief Executive Officer at Simplyhealth
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