A new centre designed as a peaceful sanctuary for patients being treated for cancer was officially opened yesterday by the Health Minister, Nicola Sturgeon.
The Friends of the Beatson Centre at Gartnavel Hospital in Glasgow has its own massage therapist, hair stylist and cinema, and is designed as a retreat where cancer patients will access holistic care. The centre's two therapists will offer aromatherapy, reiki and massages. Patients can also watch classical music concerts or simply relax in a room with a panoramic view over the city's west end.
The centre, the first of its kind in the UK, is the brainchild of Ian Dickson and Alan Kilpatrick, former cancer patients. They founded the Friends of the Beatson charity, which has raised £1.5m since 1995 and funded several initiatives. "Our vision was to offer something extra - a sanctuary for patients to complement their hospital treatment," said Mr Dickson, 57, a corporate lawyer, from Milngavie, Glasgow.
"This centre is designed to promote happiness - it's a feel good and get better' environment."
Mr Dickson was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 1988 and was treated at the Beatson.
The centre is receiving glowing endorsements from cancer patients, including Ann Clark, 60, a retired mortgage adviser from Paisley, Renfrewshire. "The centre is fabulous. When I'm feeling anxious or nervous about my illness, I can come upstairs and receive reiki and complementary therapies," said Mrs Clark who is being treated for bowel cancer, which has spread to the liver.
"The staff here are caring for the whole person, rather than just giving you chemotherapy."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article