Vascular Studies service returns to Penzance thanks to generous donor

A grateful patient of the Vascular Studies Unit has funded a tilting examination couch to enable vascular scanning to return to West Cornwall Hospital in Penzance.

The West Cornwall based patient, who wishes to remain anonymous, expressed an interest in donating to the service and on speaking to the team about the difficulty caused by having to make the journey to Truro for care realised that the provision of a specialist examination couch in the Penzance hospital would unlock this provision for many others.

“When our patient enquired about making a donation, in thanks for their care, I was happy to make this possible through our Royal Cornwall Hospitals Charity. It seemed fitting that the donation would fund the couch and provide the missing piece of the jigsaw, helping other patients in a similar position to the donor.

I am delighted to say that the Vascular Studies service returned to West Cornwall Hospital at the end of January and we have already seen many patients choosing to be seen in this clinic rather than travelling to Truro. The specialist tilting couch has enabled us to offer the same full range of diagnostic vascular ultrasound examinations provided at the main Vascular Studies Unit in Treliske, only closer to our patient’s homes, ” said Daniela Bond-Collins, Lead Clinical Vascular Scientist, Vascular Studies Unit, Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust.

“The donor was invited to West Cornwall Hospital this week to hear how the couch had been benefitting patients and was delighted to see first-hand the result of their generous support. Often patients and their families want to give thanks for the care they have received and we were delighted to be able to support this,” said Karen Murrish, Fundraising Manager, Royal Cornwall Hospitals Charity.

Since the service began in January 2024, there have been 10 scanning sessions with 36 patients attending the West Cornwall clinic. These patients would have travelled a combined total of 1887 miles from home to Royal Cornwall Hospital but instead have only had to travel a total of 352 miles – 1534 miles of traveling and approximately 520 kg CO2 emissions saved in the 3-month period.