Starship Children's Hospital's new cancer ward was officially opened by Prime Minister Hon. John Key today after an intensive five month building programme.

 

The multi-million dollar re-build of the Starship Oncology & Haematology Ward marks a new era in children's cancer treatment in New Zealand – offering comprehensive care and facilities that address not only the medical needs, but the social, psychological and emotional needs of the patients.

 

“Starship's new cancer ward finally offers young New Zealand patients the privacy they deserve throughout their often difficult treatments,” says Dr Lochie Teague, Clinical Director of the Starship Oncology & Haematology Service.

 

“The previous ward lacked separate spaces for teenagers and younger patients. International research leads us to believe the new unit will boost survival rates, particularly amongst our teens, because we've addressed issues like a positive physical environment,” Dr Teague says.

 

Andrew Young, Chief Executive of the Starship Foundation, says it is thanks to the $6 million raised from the charity's supporters and sponsors which made the rebuild project possible.

 

“Our fundraising, together with government funding, allows Starship to now offer patients, their families and staff a much more appropriate and uplifting space to deal with treatment and recovery.”

 

The new ward, designed in consultation with oncology patients and their families, provides 18 beds in 18 single bedrooms. It includes a separate area for adolescents, a parent bed in each room, more windows providing natural light and bigger playrooms.

 

The unit will treat more than two-thirds of New Zealand's paediatric cancer patients. Each year, at Starship alone, over 100 new patients are diagnosed with cancer. Each of those patients is admitted multiple times during their treatment, which can take up to a year and sometimes longer.

 

The inadequacies of the previous ward, which had 14 beds in 11 rooms, included:

 

- An insufficient number of single rooms, so that some children were transferred to single rooms in other wards to receive ongoing care;

- A four-bedded room that was overcrowded with patients and families, increasing the risk of contamination and cross-infection;

- In shared facilities, children being scared by what's happening to others in the room; and

- A lack of age-appropriate spaces and facilities for patients, especially teenagers, reducing the chance of achieving optimal survival.

 

Patients and staff left the ward, on the top floor of Starship, in November last year to make way for the rebuild. Months of extensive planning was required to ensure the patients – amongst some of the most complex cases treated at Starship – continued to receive comprehensive care in temporary accommodation within the hospital. Staff and patients are earmarked to return to the new facility next week.

 

The project would not have been possible without the generosity of many supporters, including Steve and Kirsty Williams, the Robert Allan Bell Trust, Gina Satterthwaite, CanTeen, Lions Clubs of New Zealand, Graeme and Robyn Hart, St Jude's Trust, Mercury Energy, Air New Zealand, SKYCITY Auckland Community Trust, Child Cancer Foundation, and Lorraine Lea Linen.