Myeloma Excellence Programme Award for our trust

Our haematology cancer teams at Musgrove Park and Yeovil hospitals have been presented with the Myeloma UK Clinical Service Excellence Programme (CSEP) Award in recognition of their outstanding care and dedication to people with myeloma, an incurable blood cancer which claims the lives of 3,000 people in the UK each year.

Colleagues were praised for their efforts to improve patients’ quality of life and eagerness to listen to their needs.

The accolade, awarded by blood cancer charity Myeloma UK, recognises hospitals’ commitment to raising the bar for treatment and providing compassionate care.

Claire Smith, one of our haematology clinical nurse specialists, says: “As a team we are very proud to have achieved Myeloma UK accreditation and to receive the Clinical Service Excellence Award.

“We recognise the significant impact a diagnosis of myeloma can have, and it is very humbling to receive such positive feedback from our patients. They are at the heart of what we do, as we strive to provide excellent care at all times.”

Myeloma is especially hard to spot as the symptoms are often vague and dismissed as ageing or other minor conditions.

By the time many patients are diagnosed their cancer has often advanced and they require urgent treatment. This can significantly impact their chances of survival and quality of life.

Monica Morris, clinical practice programme manager at Myeloma UK, adds: “Myeloma is a challenging cancer which keeps coming back and can be really difficult to cope with, both physically and mentally, so we were hugely impressed with the hospital’s efforts to make patients’ treatment that little bit easier – no matter where they live.

“Somerset FT nurses Claire Smith and Sam Ellison-Nash, in particular, provide invaluable support and are always on hand to signpost other services, lend an ear and offer advice to patients and their loved ones.

“Because staff know all too well the toll that constant back-and-forth trips to hospital can take, they’ve partnered with a care service to enable people in more rural areas to receive some treatments at home.

“The chemotherapy services have also been expanded over the last few years to allow patients to get treated more locally, wherever possible.

“Seeing the team go the extra mile day after day for people with myeloma is truly inspiring.”

Peter Wingrave, from Crewkerne shares his story with us as an example of how the team make a difference to patients.

Peter was diagnosed with myeloma in 2018 at the age of 71, after experiencing severe back pain. By the time his cancer was caught, the disease had started eating away at his bone and one of his vertebrae was being crushed. He has lost three and a half inches in height as a result.

More than six years on, the father-of-three continues to defy the odds and he has now thanked staff for supporting him through the rollercoaster of treatment and allowing him to lead a full life.

“They are so focused on the patient – they really understand,” says the 77-year-old architect. “It’s a miraculous service. Claire, the specialist nurse, gives us her mobile number and just says, ‘Call me’. In this day and age, it’s very difficult to get people’s contact details but hers is freely available if there are any issues.

“If there is a change, they catch it quickly and you’re not left at home worrying whether everything is OK. It’s remarkable what they’ve done for me.

“I have a two-weekly infusion in Yeovil and that takes about two and a half hours, and I have drugs which I take at home, so it’s all been made exceedingly smooth. It’s brilliant. It’s giving people like me a normal life.”

Myeloma occurs in the bone marrow and currently affects over 24,000 people in the UK. It is a relapsing-remitting cancer, meaning that although many patients will experience periods of remission following treatment, the disease will inevitably return.

More than half of patients face a wait of over five months to receive the right diagnosis and around a third are diagnosed through A&E.

While it is incurable, myeloma is treatable in the majority of cases. Treatment is aimed at controlling the disease, relieving the complications and symptoms it causes, and extending and improving patients’ quality of life.

Peter's experience started when he started getting unusual pain in his back. He consulted an orthopaedic expert. But despite multiple appointments, far from easing up his pain worsened.

“I had been going to her for a little while and this particular time I said to her, what we’re doing here is not making any difference,” said Peter. “So she wrote a letter to my GP saying she thought it wasn’t something muscular. She was the instigator – that’s how it all started.”

His GP ordered blood tests and an MRI. Just two weeks later, Peter received a call from Musgrove Park Hospital on a Sunday, telling him an ambulance was on its way to pick him. Unbeknown to him, one of his vertebrae was being crushed and there were concerns his back would collapse.

“It was a Sunday afternoon, my wife’s birthday and we were having a family celebration,” he said. “The nurse at Musgrove Park Hospital says, ‘Mr Wingrave, you’re going to have come into the hospital’. I said, that’s not going to be possible because we have a party going on here. She said, ‘Sorry but the ambulance will be with you in half an hour’.

“After the MRI they’d realised that one of my vertebrae was being crushed through the effects of myeloma. They were worried about it collapsing.”

He was quickly diagnosed with incurable blood cancer. “I had never heard of myeloma and I had to look it up,” he recalled. “It was a bit of a shock really. But, first of all, I was relieved that I wasn’t making a fuss about my bad back, that they had found what was causing it. At least we knew what was going on.

“They were very good at settling us into what would happen. I can’t recall how long we were with [the doctor] but she never gave any indication that time was getting short and that she’d need to see the next patient. She always did that, she would continue – and the same goes for the nurse, Claire – until we were comfortable and everything had been done and answered.”

Peter received radiotherapy to stabilise his back followed by chemotherapy. While his cancer is slowly showing signs of creeping back, he is stable and doing well more than six years on.

For now, he is determined to live a full life, devote himself to his passions and projects, including writing, and make the most of the time he’s been given.

“I’ve lost three and a half inches, but myeloma is not stopping me from doing anything,” he went on. “The cancer has been very much on a steady line. It’s slowly creeping up, as it will, but it’s been at an extremely low rate. I’m touching wood. The treatment that they’ve given me over these six years has kept it a bay for which I’m extremely grateful.”

“I’ve been blessed,” he added. “My wife and I have written a number of books which is quite enjoyable. I talk to the local museum and I’m doing a presentation at the minute. Six years is longer than we thought the treatment would last. I thank my lucky stars.”