People in Oldham have access to the best possible care and fantastic dedicated staff at The Christie at Oldham - Councillor Yasmin Toor

Councillor Yasmin Toor - Mayoress of Oldham

Councillor Yasmin Toor, Mayoress of Oldham

I have always wondered what happens inside the beautiful, big purpose built building that is The Christie at Oldham. Whenever I walked or drove past this amazing looking glass building lots of questions kept going on in my mind. I always wondered what life is like behind those mysterious doors. 

The Christie at Oldham treats cancer patients so it is very easy to imagine lots of people with sad faces that have lost hope for life. I worried that there were bed bound patients and my eyes filled with tears of sadness. Worrying about their lost hopes made me very upset.  

Thinking about this made me realise how precious life is and how important and meaningful relationships are. One minute we plan a full life and then the word ‘cancer’ can change everything – affecting our personality, relationships and lifestyle.

So my visit to The Christie at Oldham, with my husband, the Mayor of Oldham, during the autumn was a very ‘special’ visit. I stepped into the building with lots of questions, emotions and many different feelings.

The sun was shining above us and I took some sunshine with me so I could be strong. We were greeted by a very friendly face at the reception. There were a couple of patients sitting waiting for their appointment who we said hello to and our wonderful local Oldham Chronicle newspaper photographer Tony was there too.

Julie Davies, the Lead Radiographer at The Christie at Oldham, formally welcomed us and with the head of communications helped to show us round. The local newspaper wanted to take a quick photo and then we were shown around by two wonderful ladies, Julie and Maggie.

The atmosphere was very calm; everything was so clean and tidy. The colour choices were fantastic and the walls, paintings and seats were amazing. It didn’t feel like a hospital at all. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I became very relaxed, all my fears slowly started fading away and I started looking forward to the rest of my tour.

Each corridor, each room was very peaceful. We were shown the whole of the building, including the open, spacious, caring and calm reception area, the wide corridors, the complementary therapy room and the treatment rooms. Everything under one roof.  

We were even taken to this beautiful garden where patients can enjoy the beauty of nature.  “This is my Rose Garden” a very proud voice touched my ears as we were walking by. It was Julie`s voice, who was showing us around. I looked up and she was pointing to lots of beautiful framed photos of all the staff, in burgundy colour uniform, smiling faces, all displayed on a big window sill. How nice is that to compliment your dedicated staff. Their expertise and their skills can make a huge difference in someone’s life. The tests and treatments they do can save someone’s life, and can make a big difference in a family`s life.  
We were shown the expensive machines and treatment rooms, and saw how the staff are dedicated to their work, with a very carefully measured approach towards everything.

They make very good use of modern technologies in their training /conference rooms, with video link training for meetings. They work hard to provide the highest standard of care and take care of every possible angle so patient don’t suffer any more than what they have already been through. The patients are in very safe hands.   

I also learned that patients visiting The Christie in Oldham can use a dedicated free car park. How wonderful is that, to take away the extra stress and pressure not only financially but emotionally too from the patients and their carers. How nice is it to offer them everything they need under one roof, with the best care in the form of modern machines and comfortable chairs, so they can keep their dignity and respect and keep their will power going. Patients sometime choose to sit on the comfortable sofa style chairs rather than lying down on a bed where they might feel more ill, more sick and more in pain. 

In the complimentary therapy room, not only the patient but their carer can have a quick soothing treatment done. 

And patients can go to the information centre to get lots of relevant advice, help and support e.g. about their cancer or the benefits they may be entitled to. So patients or their carers don’t have to run around too many places for information.

Doctors, consultants and other staff also make use of the purpose built meeting/training/conference facilities to save travel time by using the video link if required.

At the end of this life changing tour, both myself and my husband are very happy that The Christie at Oldham is one of our chosen charities for the year.

We were both very pleased as people, as Councillors and as the Mayor and Mayoress to know that people in Oldham have access to such wonderful resources. They have the best possible care and fantastic dedicated staff. Most of all, we learned that The Christie at Oldham can give hope to a person who has lost hope. 

I want to thank everyone at The Christie at Oldham from the bottom of my heart and salute all health professionals who are making a big difference in people’s lives. I want to especially thank our hosts who showed us around and gave us all the information we needed. And I want to thanks the press who followed us all the way and who understand the importance of the place, taking great photographs to help their readers understand how lucky we are to have this facility.